Saving Nemo
by Jan - submitted April 7, 2005
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It was the prefect Spring day! Mama was singing while sitting on her perfect and carefully placed nest in the wreath on my front door. Papa was dutifully attentive to all her needs....watching over his little family from the Pine Tree near by.....and once again all seemed so right in the world. At dusk Mama and Papa were both singing with what seemed to be sweet joy and love. Awh....How precious nature truly is. I had taken such care to protect
the sweet little pair of House Finches and the
much anticipated new arrivals. I had guarded my front door
with a vengeance for the past 2 weeks.... and had placed a sign on
the door in bold
writing.... "PLEASE BE CAREFUL.....Bird's Nest with Mama
and Eggs in Wreath....DO NOT DISTURB"!! Little did I know it was
not long for the world.
Late that night disaster struck! In
one split second the perfect little nest...Mama and her babies and eggs
were destroyed. A cruel swift blow of a Cat ended all hope for this
little family. I heard the sounds from the other side of the door where
I had quietly listen to the sweet songs every morning. As I cautiously
opened the door my heart broke and tears and sorrow fill the space
where there had been joy and anticipation. As I stood and looked at the
horrible "mess"....I knew I had the task ahead to clean up
the remnants of their life. I took a deep breath and tried my best
to quit crying and sobbing...and just take care of it. I was
angry...and hurt.... and sad. I managed to pick up every little
piece of its existence and started back inside when I looked down and
saw a badly damaged cracked egg that had landed right in front of the
threshold. How did I not step on it? I picked it up and held it in my
hand for a moment before I had to add it to the "burial box".
All of the sudden it moved...wiggled
and moved again. I don't think I saw it moving at first...because my
"only eye" was so full of tears...but, I know I felt it. My heart
started beating a thousand times a minute and I went into a panic mode.
I cupped my hand over it to keep it warm and rushed in the house
planning out every second of what to do. I thought to
myself....this little life is going to leave this world in peace...not
in the violent manner that took his sweet little family.
So....I got a plastic bowl and lined it with tissues and placed it
under the lamp on my Computer desk. I pulled up a chair and sat with
this little egg waiting for the movement to stop and peace to come to
this struggling embryo that had been through so much trauma.
The movement never stopped! It
would move...wiggle...and move some more...and the crack that ran down
the middle of the egg started to get wider and cracking even more. I
could not take my "eye" off of it and couldn't believe what I was
witnessing. Each minute seemed to last an hour as the progress
continued. Then it stopped. I found peace in knowing
its little struggle and battle was over. WRONG! It started
again to move and try to crack through the shell...but couldn't
push past the damaged part of the shell that was pressing down on
its little body. Ohhhhhhhh.....What do I do?? What can I do??
What should I do to help this struggling little life??
The last thing I do remember doing
before I stepped up to the challenge of " hatching birth" was taking a
deep breath and praying and praying and praying again. What
seemed to be forever probably only took a few minutes to lift off the
damaged part of the shell that was pressing on the tiny little embryo
that lay inside the collapsed cracked egg that once was so perfect...
and still needed to be its "home" for at least a couple of
days longer. Against all odds and belief.....a tiny, little, fragile
premature baby bird came into this big old world. From that moment
on...We went into survival mode...all the while in my mind and heart I
could not conceive that life in this world would last long for
this tiny precious baby. Now desperate to sustain its
existence for however long it was to be was the all
consuming matter at hand. With ignorance and purposeful mind
set I sought and found enough information to start feeding and caring
for this desperate little life.
Every 20 minutes for 18 hours a day for the first 2 weeks was devoted to feeding....as well as warmth...the right amount of warmth had to be in place 24 hours a day. I searched and read any and all information I could find....but, there was nothing that addressed the situation that this baby and I found ourselves to be in. The odds were zero for one to survive at this stage and not much better at the next stage of its life. I read to count its life by
the hour and if "it" lived one hour...then hope for the next.
I wrote down each hour by hour....by hour. I stopped counting
after 247 hours. God blessed this precious little life and kept his
hand on this baby and I during the most desperate critical hours
and continues to do so with each new day of life for my Little Nemo.
Today.....My Miracle
Angel...Nemo is "ONE YEAR OLD"....Thank You God and
Thank You Nemo.......for giving me this little piece of gold and
for allowing me to share this precious little life and all
the joy it brings.
Happy Birthday Nemo! One
year old....April 7, 2005
WE LOVE YOU!
MaMa Bird, Katie, Lizzy and
Bingo
and Your extended Family and Friends
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