The last two weeks have been very hard for me. It all started with Woody not singing anymore. And normally Woody is very loud and sings all day long. He was also very fluffed up and couldn't sit on his perch anymore. So that's when he went to the vet. After listening to his heart and his lungs, the vet said he had pneumonia. He was sent home with penicillin that I had to give him twice a day and was told to come back in a week.
During the past week, I have woken up at 4am to give him a round of medicine to make sure he would get better. But after a week, he was worse. He couldn't open his right eye, he was dragging his right leg and he wasn't even cleaning himself anymore.
The picture above was taken in the vet's office. He was lying in my hand while he waited to be seen.
Poor Woody would just lie in my hand and look up at me. I knew he was really sick and I didn't know what I could do for him at all other than keep him covered, give him food and water and all his medicine.
But I think what really broke my heart was that he let me hold and pet him. And anyone who has ever had finches will know that finches hate being touched. But Woody let me hug and kiss him. He let me pet his head. And he slept in my hand. It was almost like he was letting me say goodbye.
Yesterday was his week checkup and the vet said he was worse. She sent him home with two more medicines and I gave him his first dose. But sometime during the night when I came to check on him, I say him lying on the cage floor. And Speckles was by his side.
So in the rain, I got my coat, hat and trowel so I could bury him under the big maple tree in my side yard. I gently wrapped him up in a cloth, told him I loved him and I went out in the mud to dig a grave for him. When I placed him in, I told him my final goodbye and then covered him up. Then I got some stones and made a "W" on the top of his grave.
The place I chose to bury him was at my favorite tree. I love looking at that tree from my kitchen window and oddly enough, that's where I hang all my bird feeders and wooden bird decorations. So now when I look at that big beautiful tree, I hope I'll see Woody flying in heaven where he's not sick anymore. He can breathe again and he's singing so beautifully. And one day, I can't wait to get up there to see him again.
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