Our Beginning
In the month of October 2002, a friend of mine asked me to go to an aviary with
her to see a baby Greenwing Macaw. I looked at her and asked what an aviary
was. And what was a Greenwing? She laughingly replied in a way she knew
I could understand: Horse-Barn, Dog-Kennel, Bird-Aviary. (That was to become the
first of many lessons about the bird world.) And as for the next question,
a Greenwing Macaw is one of the largest of the Macaw species, which when fully feathered
it is almost all red, with (you guessed it) "green
wings". She explained that she had been trying to find a bird for her adult
daughter that had just lost her bird of 20 some years to a very sudden death and
needed to fill that hole in her heart. I, being a dog and horse person, could not
really figure out what the big deal was. I was in for the surprise of my life.
Well my husband, Ralph, (who by the way is an over the road truck driver and just
happed to be home at the time), my friend and I went to the location with the birds
and when she showed me her little darling, I had to say to myself “She has got to
be kidding!” This bird was so newly hatched that it did not have feathers
yet, but it did have what looked like colored toothpicks sticking out all over its
body. I was later to learn that this is normal, that the feathers were growing
in through shafts which later would be preened off and
beautiful feathers would emerge. As my friend sat and held
her new baby "Maxine," I looked around
at the other birds, toys and all the things I would soon discover to be of importance
in the proper care and needs of a bird.
The owner of the aviary came up and asked if I had ever held an exotic bird before.
I replied that I had not, then found a beautiful baby Harlequin Macaw in my arms.
Having no knowledge of these wonderful creatures, I asked what I was supposed to
do with it. They very patiently explained that the birds like to have their
heads stroked, the feathers gently ruffled and in general just be loved. I
thought "okay" and proceeded to carry her around for the next 2 1/2 hours. When
they came to take her back, I had placed her on my right arm and as they approached,
she screamed, lunged and acted as if she were frightened beyond belief. Without
a blink of an eye, I put my left arm around her as any mother would. Without even
knowing it, I whispered to her, "It's alright Grace". Everyone in the place
just stopped and looked over at us. The owners then asked, "Why did you call
her Grace?" I looked up and without hesitation replied, "Because she is Amazing!”
I am sure can see where this is going, but ah, there is more to tell.
My dear friend and my husband decided to put a sales contract on "Grace" for me
by putting her on my friend’s credit card! Nice thought, but you see, things
were so tough for us financially at that time that I was staying with my friend
as we were renting out our house, just to make the payments on our mortgage. I just
could not believe what they had just done! I was none too happy with either
of them and as much as I yearned to call Grace mine, I knew it just could not happen
at this time in our lives. When confronted with my mixed emotions, both of them
understood, but asked me to not make a total decision until Monday.
If I still felt the same, the contract could then be voided out
under the "Buyers Remorse" clause. Since it was just about closing time and
it was Saturday evening, that gave me all day Sunday to pray and cry about what
to do. With a heavy heart I told them that as much as their gesture meant to me,
it did not make sense to add to our financial difficulty.
On Monday after work, all three of us headed into the shop where "Grace" was.
We told them what we felt our decision
must be and they kindly understood. I asked if I could hold Grace and try
to explain why as much as I would have liked to be her "Mommy", I just couldn't.
I found such tears in my eyes and my heart hurt so bad, that when the room suddenly
started to spin around me, I guess I just though it was from that. I called my husband
over to me and told him to take Grace and I ran out of the building. When I got
outside, the sidewalk suddenly looked as if it were rolling up and down
like the waves of the ocean. Ralph took Grace back inside
and called my friend, who happened to be a registered nurse, to come quickly. I
vaguely remember trying to talk to her, but knew I wasn't making sense as I fell
into a place that mattered not.
It
turned out that I was having a gall bladder attack and had been having them for
several years, but just didn't know it by the symptoms. After three surgeries and
5 days, I woke up and saw my poor husband sitting in a chair in the room and I asked
him, "What day is it?" Surprised, Ralph replied that is was Friday. With my
usual, "Get to the Point Attitude," I said, very clearly, "Well , I guess we have
a new baby in the family now." Totally confused and not knowing what I meant, Ralph
replied to me that he did not understand. I told him that our three days "Buyer
Remorse" clause was definitely past it's time, so it looked like we were the proud
new parents of "Amazing Grace." I realized then and there that I when I prayed to
my Heavenly Father, sometimes the answer
might come in the most unexpected way. I did laughingly ask Him that the next time
I asked him a question, could He possibly just make it a more simple YES or NO?
Grace came home to us not long after that. The first night home with our
new baby girl, holding her in my arms, I started to shake and cry. When Ralph asked
me what was wrong, I told him that I did not think anything was wrong, but that
I just knew looking down at our baby girl, that our lives were taking a totally
new road and that we had better get ready. Little did either of us know just
how prophetic that statement was. In falling deeper in love with our little
Grace, we began to understand just how special these wonderful creatures of our
Heavenly Father's were. They not only love unconditionally, but are like having
a child that will need nurturing and guidance for all it's life. By studying
and through research we became more aware of the world of the flighted ones and
we began to see that not all people who had chosen to take in one of these awesome
birds saw or cared as they should.
Within a short time, the first of many birds to come arrived at our home needing
understanding, love, care and a safe haven. Thus the beginning of the "Amazing Grace Bird Rescue"!
Thank you for reading our story and if you would like to know more about these wonderful
creatures and how you may help, please check our other links and meet more of us,
some feathered and some not.