Last night when we all returned home from dinner at Nanny and Poppy’s we knew something was wrong right away. Rory was not on his perch saying hello to us. So we called out a couple times from the kitchen and I whispered that I thought he might be dead. Sure enough, there was Rory, dead as a door nail on the bottom of the cage.

We’re not entirely sure why he died. He was only 4 months old. But it was my birthday and then the following day Tim was admitted to hospital for a possible repeat MS attack and we had two very late nights.

Normally, I take Rory out during the day for some sun and bring him in before it gets cold. But on those two nights, he got left out in the cold all night because I forgot he was out there. So maybe he got a cold. At least, I hope he got a cold because otherwise I wonder if I did something wrong in terms of his care. I hope not!

Jaxon handled it like a champ. He doesn’t quite comprehend that Rory wont be coming back. Or that Rory isn’t getting cold in the ground. But I think he’s starting to get it. We spoke about my brother Terry who died and how he died. And how he wont get to meet Terry because Terry is dead. We spoke to him about how Mum and Dad would die one day and that all of the grandparents and possibly some of his friends would die one day. We told him that’s how life is. People are born as babies and grow and live their lives but one day everything dies.

When he told me “Mum, I’m going to miss Rory” I patted him on his chest and told him that we all missed him, but that he would always be alive in our hearts” So he replied that Rory was going to make him die. This worried me, since I thought maybe he was taking the death thing too literally. But what he said after that was “If Rory’s in my heart it wont be able to beat” Bless him.

Jaxon and I went and bought three plants and we dug a hole and buried Rory and planted the tree next to him. We made up a little rock with Rory’s name on it so Jaxon would always know where he was.

We all miss Rory. It’s possible that I’m missing him more than anyone else because he would sit on my desk right here and chat to me while I did things. We’ll get another bird in a few weeks.