This blog post is really just a huge thank-you for all the lovely, thoughtful, funny, comforting, poetic messages I’ve received after my last post about the passing of George. They’ve come via blog comments, email, text, Messenger, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. I expect a carrier pigeon at any moment …
There have been stories of how people enjoyed hearing about him; how he taught them new things, maybe even changed their minds about crows. There have been whimsical descriptions of bird companions loved (and sometimes lost). I’ve laughed and cried reading them all. I have tried to write back as much as I can, but I fear I’m never going to manage as many replies as I’d like. If I haven’t written back to you, please know that I really appreciate your words and feel as if I’ve had a big hug from the world.
This is one of my favourite photos of George when I first met him. You can just see the wisdom and engagement in his eyes.
It was tough to lose George. As my husband said, when called him in tears to tell him the news, “It’s not all beer and skittles, being an urban nature enthusiast.”
So true — disaster and heartbreak is always lurking around the corner. But that is, as they say, life. And to quote Alfred Lord Tennyson, ” ‘Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.”
When I picked George up to bury him, he weighed almost nothing at all. I had never held him before, so it was a surprise.
I keep thinking about how very light he was. That lightness seemed such a contrast to his substantial personality and presence.
George was a gift. I hope he’ll pop into our minds whenever those of us who knew about him see other crows. And we’ll smile when we think of him.
George on one of his favourite perches at the local elementary school.
Meanwhile, I’m trying to get my City Crow Calendar to the printer, but I keep re-writing it. You would think I was working on a major novel, rather than a calendar.
I keep going back and forth on George in the calendar.
No George, therefore no morbid “dead crow” associations?
Lots of George, to honour him?
In the end, I’ve decided on some George, and a special page at the end to celebrate him.
This picture of George’s magnificent feet will be one of several in the 2018 City Crow Calendar.
Thank-you once again for all of the kind thoughts and messages.
I like to think that George, from his perch up in the Great Sky Roost, enjoyed them too.
George’s feet truly are magnificent. As was George himself. So glad you’re including him in the calendar. Thank you for sharing George with us. We will miss him too.
Handsome George. There is absolutely nothing morbid about him. To me he’s a symbol of perseverance and grace. Cannot wait for the 2018 calendar.
Not all beer and skittles. Great line. With humility, yes, George was a gift. Your active grief and honoring him keeps that spirit with you and us. Its also a gift that you yourself found him to render his final care. Sign me up for your next calendar and thank you for sharing him with us.
Definitely George. I sense you will need a large production run of the 2018 calander…..me too please. Thanks for your thanks! Xo
Wow! Just wow! This was so very nice to read first thing this morning for me, I think we all will forever remember “George”, in a very special way from now on & when we look skyward, we can give him a smile for all he has given to us.
Having only met George recently through your blog, I found myself in tears when reading what had happened. Thank you for sharing stories of George with us and know that he touched a lot of lives..