Roughly three years ago my mom had a stroke. I am the youngest of three, but found myself taking care of my young family and my disabled mom. It was just crazy. I look back and think to myself, “How did I manage that?” My siblings helped, but I had to make some very tough decisions, very fast. Little did I know, a family of bluebirds would change everything.
Here is how it all started. I will try to make a long story short. I visited my mom on a regular basis and talked with her daily. All of a sudden, she woke up without the use of one of her legs. It just didn’t work right and puzzled all of the doctors. I took her to and from appointments with specialists, and brought her dinner’s every few days. I was just doing what I could to help her through this. Then one day she fell and ended up in the hospital While there, she had a stroke. Over the next few days, I had to get her to a nursing home for rehab and figure out how to work, keep the family going and take care of her. I made some huge sacrifices. Our entire family did. She soon moved to an assisted living facility. While there, my husband (thank God for him) and I decided the best thing to do was to move, so I could take care of my mom. I reached out to a friend who was a realtor and told him the situation. With his help and almost our entire family network, we managed to sell our house and by a house with a first floor master. It was a chaotic couple of months. Turns out, the move was full of surprises.
One of the greatest things about our new home is the awesome back yard. We have had, birds, deer, rabbits, and chipmunks all over the back yard. We all wake up wondering what we will find out there. I have to check the yard before I even let the dogs out. This brings me to the point of this story. We have a bird house that just sits on the back deck. I just sat it out there because I really didn’t have a place for it. Well this birdhouse very quickly became home to a family of Eastern bluebirds.These bluebirds are common where we live, however, none of us had ever seen them before. They have the most amazing blue feathers. This blue reminds me of the night sky between sunset and dusk. Sometimes referred to as the blue hour. It’s a beautiful shade of blue.
Twice a year, we get the pleasure of watching mom and dad bluebird scope out the bird house to make sure it’s safe. This takes a few weeks. Then they start building the nest. Soon, we peek in and see the eggs. Within a few weeks, we see mom and dad bluebird bring insects and worms to the nest to feed the babies. Soon the baby birds emerge from the birdhouse and take off. Seeing mother nature in action twice a year is just wonderful.
I call the bluebirds blessings for many reasons. My mom cannot walk. She rarely leaves the house due to her disability. As you can imagine, she is sometimes down. However, she can watch the bluebirds almost year round. It has been therapeutic for the entire family. My mom gets to see beauty and nature from inside where she is safe and comfortable. I developed a love for photography. My kids and husband have also enjoyed watching these birds flourish right in our back yard along with all the other wildlife. The family of bluebirds who call our deck home have made the house and the back yard special. This has really helped make the sacrifices we have made as family seem worth it all. Here are some of the pictures of our blue bird blessings. I hope you enjoy. To learn more about eastern blue birds, please visit https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/eastern-bluebird
With much love,
Jamie, XO
