My son would like me to let you know that our bird passed away on Friday. It has been an extremely difficult time, but we've had some good conversations.
We only had her for two weeks and she had to go to the vet twice during that time. The last time she was there for 4 days. We brought her home Thursday night, and we found her dead Friday morning. It has been harder than it needs to be because the pet store was exceptionally rude and made very unkind accusations. It's made the grieving process difficult, especially for me.
We loved that little bird and she had the sweetest personality. My 4-year-old is positive that Heavenly Father and Jesus are taking care of her and we'll get her back after the resurrection. He is very concerned, however, that Heavenly Father will be sad without her, even though He has millions of birds, so "we're going to share".
The son who owned Brittney was watching some of our church leaders talk when he started crying. He said that he understood then how Jesus had suffered for all our pain, that He even knew how it felt to have your pet die and "that Jesus knows how much I miss Brittney and how much it hurts." I'm so glad he has the Atonement to help him through the sadness.
We've decided not to get another bird for right now. We need some time.
We are so sorry! We hope you guys all feel better soon. We are thinking of you. Love your Idaho friends.
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry. I still remember how sad I was when my birds died. My dad had even given them a funeral and said a prayer to comfort me.
ReplyDeleteWhat your son said about sharing the bird with Heavenly Father is priceless! That put a huge smile on my face.
We raised a few chickens from chicks, and some of them didn't make it. One of our ducks, also, did not make it (there was something wrong her from the beginning).
ReplyDeleteIt was a holy experience to care for our fellow beings, even though they were not meant to be on earth for as long as we thought they would be.
As we watched our little duck struggle for the last few minutes of her life, we cried. It was so hard. And what God taught me was that this duck (purchased from the local feed store), was not really worth much to the world. God taught me that we made that duck valuable because we loved her. No matter what. No matter how long.
It may seem a small thing--often people say, "It was just a bird," but that bird's mission was to typify Christ, and do we not see Christ as we operate as stewards over these beings who look to us as the very image of God?
It is a serious thing to be made in God's image and to have dominion over all these creations. It is so worth it to love them, no matter how long or short. It is so worth it to see Christ typified, especially in the event that we are chosen to be present in an experience as holy as death.
Another thing we have learned from being around dying animals (we take care of old horses who have nowhere else to go--we are in this and know that we will constantly be facing their deaths)--is that there is a moment when the spirit leaves the body (even in animals), when the veil is thin and they go back to the God who gave them life. There is so much to learn from those brief moments.
Moreover, we can’t fully appreciate joyful reunions later without tearful separations now. The only way to take sorrow out of death is to take love out of life. --Elder Russell M. Nelson