Ms. Buddy

Our family has had the pleasure of Buddy's company since she was 6 weeks old, in July of 1985. She kind of grew up with my boys, and began bonding with my son Tyler when he was about 5 years old (Tyler was born in August 1985). Buddy moved into his sunny room and they became good friends. Every day after school, he would come home and treat her to peanuts or Cheez-it's, her favorite snacks. Tyler would get her to say things like "I love you", "Pretty Pretty Bird" "Buddy wants a cracker" and "Here Ratt, Kitty, Kitty" (cat and bird are also good friends. pictures another time). Buddy recognizes her family and calls many of us by name. "Mama, Mama come here!!" is one of her most frequent lines. "Boys! get up, gotta go" is another. She would wait for Tyler to get home from school and at least 10 minutes before he opened the front door she would start calling him, "Tyler! Tyler! Tyler! Come here....Buddy wants a cracker!" as loud as she could, which is pretty loud :) This went on for many years. One day, when they were 15 years old each, Tyler yelled out, "Mom! An EGG!!!" and was very excited. Buddy had laid an egg and we knew then she was a girl. (She's laid three eggs altogether). Buddy did not like Tyler's school friends- if they were girls!, but she was a big hit with all the neighborhood kids when he would take her walking in the park.

One day, July 14, 2002, Tyler left for a birthday party and he never came home. He and his brother, Tanner, were critically injured in an electrical accident. Tyler died 10 days later, just a few days before his 17th birthday. (Tanner recovered from his injuries and is doing better every day)Buddy knew that something bad had happened to Tyler. Friends would come by to feed our family's pets while we camped at the hospital. They would relate that Buddy would make sobbing noises, and she would cry out, Tyler!, Tyler! "Let's go boys!".

Afterwards, when our family was trying to cope and we'd all started back to work, Buddy became very despondent. She began pulling her feathers out. She stopped eating and lost a lot of weight. She just sat on her playpen and would not play. Every single day, when I came home from work, I would open the front door, and she would sadly and plaintively cry out for Tyler. My heart shriveled a little more each time this happened. I worried we would lose Buddy too, so I took her in to our avian vet. He gave us wonderful advice. Get a new cage, new toys and move her out of Tyler's room. Play with her every day and say the same words to her that he would use. It would take time, but she would pull out of it. So I took his advice and she began to improve a little more each day. It's been three years since we lost Tyler. Now she only occaisionally calls his name. But she still says, almost every day, Boys! get up! Let's go". This I can live with, and I'm glad she decided to get well, because we love our bird.