Dad's Crows

Fed the basement fish which will soon be outside again, the pond fish and the birds. Heard some crows cawing and thought of my dad.

He was never much on pets, not the way I am. He had some when he was a boy but they were outside dogs and cats and we had a family dog until I was eighteen when she was hit by a semi truck. She was allowed to roam the neighborhood and even when she slept indoors, and although she barked at my mom when mom sat on Dad’s lap, I never sensed a deep affection for the dog from my dad.

Dad loved wildlife animal shows on TV and in his last months, took up a profound friendship with two crows frequenting his yard. This struck me as odd because he never expressed that much interest in birds as such, that I recall.
He told me all about the crows’ antics and he was amazed by their intelligence. And what really surprised me was that Dad even saved scraps of bread and meat from his table to feed them, which he did every time he saw them.

Crows and ravens, as you may know, are harbingers of death. I guess I just find it ironic that my dad befriended them just before my mom passed and the last time I saw him before his hospital admission he was talking about how much he appreciated them.

Maybe there was a message in that for us. Death is a natural part of life and we can be appreciative of it. It doesn’t lessen the pain of losing our parents but it does remind us of the fact that we are all on a path toward death, so the journey really needs to be special.

The love Mom and Dad had for each other was very special. They almost made their 52nd anniversary. They are together, commingled in the urn now, for all time.

I wonder what the crows might think of that.