At 5 o'clock this morning, my litte birdie Jacko turned in.
He had been a bit ill for quite some time, but it never seemed like something all too serious. He still ate, drank and played with me and everyone else in the family. I just thought he had caught a cold or something.
But then, yesterday morning, I wake up and find that he had puked all over himself, and that he was no longer willing to eat nor drink.
It just got worse over the day, as he gradually lost control over his legs, and couldn't stand up anymore. He stayed tucked in my sweater for most of the day, to keep him warm. We even forcefed him and made him drink, but nothing stayed down for longer than a minute or two.
We had looked up the symptoms, and it seemed like he had metal poisoning.
The most important thing was to keep him warm and make him eat and drink until you could get the antidote for it.
We were going to go to the vet first thing this morning. We had tucked him down among warm blankets, and put a lamp on next to it to keep it warm.
I went to sleep hoping that he could make it.

Then I woke up.
I found him in the corner of the cage, dead. He had crawled out of the blankets, using only his beak and neck, and then died.
I don't think I've cried this much since my grandma died when I was around nine years old.
I know how it sounds for a 21-year old man to cry over a pet, but he was my FRIEND.
We always hung out with each other, listening to music and chatting, sharing a snack or two, or just cuddling and grooming.
He was always there to make me feel better when I was angry or sad, and I always stuck up for him when my dad was angry with him or he was harrassed by his roomie, Maya.
He left a deep mark in me, and now he's gone forever.

It's just so sad. He was 4 years and a couple of months. Most parrots of his spiecies lives to see 10 or 12.
Why did he have to die only a third into that?!
I know that all things die off eventually, but it just breaks me sometimes.

So here's to you, Jacko.
I love you very, very much.
And I'm going to miss you as long as I live.

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We have now had Jackos funeral.
His coffin was a small box that was originally used to store a couple of One Piece figurines that I had bought. He was wrapped in a piece of soft towel, and had with him some of his most priced possesions. A dice from our Yatzee set. He KNEW how important they were, since we all fiddled with them and didn't want him to play with them as well, so of course he HAD to have them... <XD; Now he'll have one with him whereever he goes.
He also got half a bag of honey pearls, his favorite snack, in his little coffin.
We buried him in the garden, bethween our cherry trees. To mark his grave we put a couple of Rocks, and planted some flowers around it.
My dad held a little speech about him, about what kind of a big little person he was. He was basicly all the seven deadly sins bundled up into something not wicked (ok, a little), but lovely. <XD
He's biting angels now, and I hope that he'll find his peace.

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Meanwhile, Jackos roomie/girlfriend (they both had very different views on that. <XD Jacko knew he was human, and thought it weird that there was a birdie in love with him) Maya has been depressed and sad, not willing to leave the cage.
She has always been a bird with a flock mentality. That flock has essentially been only Jacko, and without him, she seems to have felt lost in everything. I've spent the day trying to comfort her and keep her companybut she has mostly wanted to stay in the cage.
We were all a bit worried about her, until she, just an hour ago, suprized us all by laying an egg!
The chances of the egg eventually containing anything is slim, since Jacko and Maya were two different subspiecies (Agapornis Personata and Agapornis Rosalia) but not nonexistant, since it's recently been proved that the two actually CAN breed.
We are going to let her keep the egg for a while, since even if there isn't anything in there, we all think that Maya needs to have something to find comfort in, and that taking care of the last thing left by her beloved little partner would be what she needs to do.

But my hope is, that against all odds, I will see Jackos children emerge soon.

A lot has happend in one day for me, and I will now try to get some sleep and try to live through to tomorrow. <XD
Thank you all for your kind notes and comments!
It's meant a lot.

See yah soon!