A Parrot Love Story

For several months, a small group of parrots has graced the bamboo thicket just outside our 5th floor apartment window. I loved watching them sit at the top of the bamboo branches, usually in pairs, swaying in the wind. There was one parrot though that sat alone.

One day I heard his squawk very close to our window, much closer than the bamboo branches. I realized that he was sitting on the window seal of a our neighbor's window, two floors down. He was visiting our neighbor's parrot who was in a cage just inside the window. Sometimes the parrot was not in its cage, but was loose inside the apartment. When she was loose and her friend came to visit on the window seal, she came to the window and they chatted back and forth. They did this almost daily for months and the visiting parrot seemed to be very dedicated to keeping his caged girlfriend's spirits up. He didn't seem to tire of coming to see her, although it seemed that a life together was impossible...she was captive and had no means of escape!

When I returned to Colombia this December, my husband commented that the captive parrot escaped! It seems that someone left the window open when she was out of her cage. She's finally free! Now she spends her time with her partner, the parrot who faithfully visited her during her captivity. I'm sure that after such a long time in captivity, her wings were weak and she needed help learning to live in the wild. Her partner must have been very patient with her as she gained her strength and learned her way around.

Every afternoon they can be seen enjoying life together, seemingly without a care in the world. They sit on a bamboo branch in the thicket outside our window, swaying in the breeze, silhouetted in the glowing sunset. It's probably the most romantic scene I have ever witnessed.

As I pondered this lovely love story, it dawned on me that the captive parrot's story is a lot like mine. At one time I felt caged, stifled and hopeless of any chance at freedom. A kind, noble man took an interest in me and was there, never pressuring me, never expecting anything from me. He was just there, always dependable and steady. A window opened and suddenly I was free, and he was there, ready to take on the task of teaching me about life.

Now our lives consist of enjoying our time together just like the parrot couple who sit quietly on that bamboo branch enjoying the sunset.