Yes it is hard to lose a pet.
I know many people don't understand. I mean Celeste was 'just' a bird. But, I cried when he died and I still miss him.
4 years ago I was really really sick. I was not able to get out of bed very much and I never left the apartment I was living in with my room-mate, his 2 kids and my 2 boys. I was alone a lot with the kids. As my room-mate worked full time and then some. The boys were 7,3,2, and a newborn. My boys were the older 2.
Sometimes Brian (the room-mate) took the boys to the pet store. They used to go on rainy days to get out of our little apartment... it was very small and there was no outside place for the kids to play. There were 2 bedrooms each was 10x10 and Brian and his boys had one bedroom and me and my boys had the other. I was the only one with a bed. I had a twin bed in my room that I usually shared with the baby and one or 2 of the other boys. The kitchen was so small you could not open the oven and the refrigerator at the same time. and you could reach both walls if you spread your arms in the middle. There was no bathtub only what they call 3/4 showers. Barely room to raise your arms to wash your hair. I am not complaining. It was way better than the alternatives I had at that point in time. And I am grateful that I had a place to live with my boys.
One day they went on a pet store outing and came back with Celeste. Liam thought it was important for me to have company and some cheerful songs. Cameron picked Celeste because he was blue and white like the sky and he knew I loved being outside and thought I missed it. I was totally surprised when they brought him home and very moved by the thoughtfulness that went into this gift.
Right away Celeste was part of the family, singing and chirping always checking everyone out. He even learned to talk! Would actually have his own little conversations in his little bird voice. When I moved to Mississippi his cage was on the front seat with me the whole 2600mi. He learned to bark like a dog and meow. Well what I guess I'm saying is that he fulfilled the wishes of my children and kept me company and cheered me up.
So as you can see to me Celeste was a lot more than 'just' a bird.
