Serafina Pekkala 7/25/03 - 7/31/08

Our dear little Serafina passed away this morning at the Birdie Hospital. She was going in for her weekly antibiotic shot and abdominal tap. She was accompanied by the Wogdog and they were tweeting and preening right up to when they went back into the exam room. Serafina has been having more and more trouble breathing and she did look especially puffy and out of breath this morning. But at least she still had enough energy to head snuggle with the little Wogdog.

The vet said that she was acting fairly feisty and normal when she had her antibiotic injection and a first abdominal tap.... but when she (the vet) went in to try a second tap to remove some more of the liquid in her abdomen, little Serafina just suddenly stopped breathing and died. It was that fast. It is a small, but comforting consolation.

I drove home with a rather confused and alone Wogdog and a very sad looking small box. The box just kept making me cry every time i looked at it. It seemed so strange that it could possibly hold Serafina. Maybe her body could fit in there, but all the things that made up her real self - her incredibly loud and energetic tweeting, her superior flying abilities, her undying love for Terfle, her way of hanging upside down like a bat on the front of the cage, her adorable way of sleeping with her head tucked into her wing whilst singing beautiful little chirpy songs to herself - those things could not fit in such a small box.

Dave met me at home and we opened the box together and put Serafina's body out on her carrying cage so that the rest of the birdies could see what had happened and hopefully have even a flicker of understanding. It's impossible to know if this does anything, but it just seemed like the right thing to do. They are a very close knit flock and the sudden change from 4 birdies to 3 will certainly impact them in some way.

It does seem like there is a tangible emptiness at home.

We are going to bury her tomorrow morning.

Thank you all so much for your thoughts and well wishes and prayers over the last month and a half. Serafina was one well-loved birdie. I know I felt like I could love her unconditionally with a clear and open heart. And that is really the most beautiful and important thing we all have to offer one another, isn't it?