Saying goodbye to Sunshine


Me and Sunshine, looking emo.
This post is a bit personal and self-indulgent, so feel free to stop reading now. It’s also about my family pet.
Last Monday, while I was home visiting my mom, we had to put my 16 year old cockateil Sunshine to sleep.
I got him as a pet when I was only nine, a compromise pet from parents who didn’t want, or were allergic to, cats and dogs. I had no idea when I got him at age 9 that he would be still alive and kicking into my mid-twenties. He also survived quite a few near-death experiences. He had an unfortunate run-in with a ceiling fan once, in addition to a sticky mouse trap, being stepped on and even escaping the house for a few days only to be found by a neighbor on their roof.
To be honest, growing up I was mostly annoyed by him. Birds are loud, messy and not as cute as dogs or cats. You can’t run around outside with them, or snuggle with them, and your friends won’t want to come over and play with them. Sunshine was pretty attached to me after a few years, so he was pretty unfriendly to everyone else. He used to wake me up at 8am by squawking loudly, and I’d have to get up and bring him into my room with me, where he would bother me until I got up.
Despite all that, putting him to sleep was really hard. He was old, and having trouble breathing, so we brought him to the vet. They told us he probably had a cancer of some sort, and that it would be best to put him down since he was having such a hard time breathing. My mom and I both cried, a lot more than I ever would have expected over a bird. Despite all the annoyances, he was a companion, and a big part of our family after so many years. I’m going to miss him.
We buried him in the front yard, and there is a small sun shaped garden decoration above where he is buried.

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