Thurston

2001 - 2020

In March of 2001 I was asked to go to my local pet store and have my pick of newly born baby cockatiels! There must’ve been at least six of them, but only one got my attention so much that I immediately knew, after being hand raised and weaned, I took him home for the first time on a Thursday, and hence why I named him Thurston!
Unfortunately, when I left for work on Thursday (how ironic) April 30, 2020, I didn’t realize it would’ve been his last day in the physical world! I knew his time was nearing, but no matter what you’re thinking is, as a pet owner, you can never prepare for these things when they happen!

We shared every moment together, his selflessness led to our eternal bond as one, and changed me as a person inside that for the first time ever, I felt there was something worth living for, thank you for changing me Thurston!

When I think of Thurston, I think of the 1941 movie “Nine lives are not enough,” only because he got himself into more trouble than usual, but always managed of finding a way of having us reunite!
I can think of a lot of crazy situations he got into, some funny, and some serious during his younger days, but I would like to share just one that stands out the most.
It was January/08, on a weekend like all weekends, Thurston and I spend every second together. After waking up, I typically opened the sliding door to allow fresh air inside, and he would always race towards the door and kinda perch on the screen section with claws on the mesh, this was routinely done, he would sing, chirp, he was happy………..only problem was on this day, the mesh door was left open from before! My heart sank as I watched helplessly as he flew out and kept on flying trying to find me, but couldn’t. Hours led to days, and weeks turned to months, despite my sorrow every night, I never lost hope once, because he was special and smart! Every week I would try something different in finding him, nothing worked, by around March I decided to put hundreds of flyers up within a radius, and finally a miracle happened around mid May (after 4 months out there somewhere) a voice mail was left on my phone, it was from the nearest animal shelter claiming that because of my flyer, they wanted me to go down and see if it was Thurston! Well it was, and ever since then I’ve thought about how many lives that must’ve amounted to, because his story should’ve ended back in January, but instead our companionship lived on for another 12 years!

Like I said, there were so many more instances where he got himself into trouble, but I’m no angel myself, this companionship of ours was mutual, give-and-take, it was a beautiful marriage to say the least, and I will miss him forever as he will remain dear in memory and my heart for the rest of my natural life in this physical world!

Forever in memory and my heart, Thurston, March/01 – May/20