A few years ago, my rescue group took in an adorable little Quaker Parrot who had been found outside. We were unable to locate where she came from through her bird band, and no one responded to our newspaper advertisement. We knew she was young, about a year old; we also knew right away that she was very special.
Sprite, as she came to be called, absolutely loved everyone she ever met. And everyone who met her instantly fell in love too. I brought her to my home for about a month to see how she behaved around other animals, and she did very well. After her foster period with me was up, she would go to different volunteers' houses for short periods of time, as we all wanted to have her for our very own.
Soon, Sprite began to mumble when talked to, learning how to mimic our words and sounds. She even started to say "Hello" and "Sprite". But the mumbling was adorable! Then, one day, a few of us were giggling about something and Sprite started to laugh! It was so funny that we all started laughing more, so SHE started laughing more! It was the most adorable thing to hear, and Sprite would get so excited with all the laughter!
One of her favorite things was to be cuddled close to your chest near your heart, and she also loved to groom whomever was handling her. She was so gentle, cleaning earlobes, eyebrows, fingers, whatever was presented to her, and loved to have her chin rubbed. She would stretch her neck out and tip her head back as far as she could, just so you could reach her chin better.
It was hilarious watching her pick out her favorite things to eat from her food dish, and toss the rest over the side deliberately. She even had us all trained to hand-feed her favorite treats to her one at a time! Sprite loved peanuts the best, and would get so excited when she saw us take out a handful of peanuts and bring them to her.
This past Sunday, we found that Sprite had passed away in the night. We had no warning, and she was acting completely normally up to that point. We only had a few years with Sprite, but we are so grateful for every second we were able to spend with this very special little bird.
I will miss her laugh most of all, but I like to think that she is finding a lot of things to laugh about beyond the Rainbow Bridge.
I love you and miss you, my little Sprite...
