We bought a cage and all the supplies needed. I remember Pete riding home in a small cardboard cylinder shaped box. We adopted Pete in1970; I don't remember the month. Pete's cage was in my bedroom. Pete loved to sit in the bathroom in front of the mirror. The bathroom was straight down the hallway from my bedroom so he didn't have far to fly. He would spend all day sitting in front of the mirror.

We used to go to Iowa every summer to visit my mother's side of the family. Pete made one trip with us to my grandmother's house. We sat his cage in the living room while we were there. The next summer we left Pete home. My father gave my mother and I a ride to Iowa and went back home. A week later when he came to pick us up he said Pete had flown out the front door. I was quite young and this almost brought me to tears thinking Pete was gone. My father went on to explain that he had gone into the house and took a hand mirror outside. He found Pete in a tree in our yard and was able to get Pete to come to him with the mirror. I don't know if this was luck or divine intervention. What are the odds first that Pete would stop in a tree in our yard and not just keep flying, and second, that my father would have time to get a mirror before Pete flew away and have Pete come to him and walk him back into the house. I still consider this a miracle.

Unfortunately, 1975 was Pete's last year with us. My father had a stroke in January of that year and was in a wheelchair for the last six years of his life. A few months later on May 15, a day after my mother's birthday, our RCA television started on fire. I was at school when this happened. My mother called the fire department and worked on getting my father out of the house. My mother was able to get my father out of the house in time but not Pete. Pete perished in the fire. The firemen placed Pete's cage in the back yard. I buried Pete behind the garage.

Next up is Goofy Bird. During the summer of 1981 my best friend got it into his head he wanted to adopt a parakeet. But he wasn't sure and we made many trips to different pet stores so he could look at them as he tried to decide. When he couldn't make up his mind I told him I would adopt his parakeet if he decided not to keep it. He adopted one but could not make a connection with him. He said he tried to befriend it but it just wasn't working. After he had the parakeet for two months he felt like he wasn't making a connection with him, so, I brought him home. He was blue. My friend had never given him a name. We called him Goofy Bird because of his antics. Goofy Bird and I made an immediate connection.

We hung Goofy Bird's cage in the kitchen. I know, I know, I've read you're not supposed to place bird cages in kitchens because of fumes, but Goofy Bird lived in the kitchen for 7 years seemingly without any ill effects. Goofy Bird also loved sitting in the bathroom in front of the mirror, just like Pete. He would spend most of the day in the bathroom. When I would return from work he would fly to the front door to meet me and land on my shoulder. While we ate supper he would walk around the table trying different foods. His favorites seemed to be corn and spaghetti. He would work the kernel of corn until he got it out of the shell. When he would eat spaghetti he would end up with sauce on his face but it always seem to come off in a day or two. Maybe he splashed his face in his water dish, I don't know.

Goofy Bird's life was uneventful. In the evenings he would either sit with us in the living room as we watched television or sit in the bathroom in front of the mirror. He would walk back and forth on the back of the sofa or go under the blanket on the sofa. I rarely had to take him to his cage at bedtime. Around 9 pm he would fly to his cage by himself. I would follow and close his door and put his cover over his cage. My mother found a custom cover for his cage that fit it perfectly. He was then quiet for the night and you wouldn't hear a peep from him until morning. We always opened his door in the morning and he had free roam of the house during the day.

The years passed and one day when I uncovered his cage I could tell he was not feeling well. He had his feathers all puffed up and you could just tell by the way he was sitting something was wrong. I tried to find the best bird doctor in the Twin Cities at that time and took him in. They weren't sure what he had and I left him there for observation. I don't remember how long Goofy Bird stayed at the doctor's office, two or three day's maybe. They called one day and said he had passed away. I had them do a necropsy and they told me he had cancer. They sent me a nice card that I still have. I buried Goofy Bird behind the garage next to Pete. Goofy Bird passed away January of 1988. He was such a good bird. I still miss him very much and think of him often.

The last parakeet in our family was Knibbles. He came to our family through my boss. This was September of 2000. The man I worked for had a computer sales and service company. It was just him and I. His young daughter had Knibbles for three years. They never took Knibbles out of his cage. They also had a cat and a dog and didn't want something to happen. My boss and his wife decided to move to Florida. For whatever reason they decided not to take Knibbles with them. They asked if I would adopt Knibbles and I said sure. We hung Knibbles' cage in the living room. After a few weeks with us I opened his door. He never made any attempt to come out. He mostly sat by the mirror in his cage. He was finger trained and I could bring him out. He would ride around on my shoulder but never tried to fly. I placed him on the back of the sofa a few times while I watched TV, but he never moved from the spot I would place him. Maybe from never coming out of his cage he didn't know what to do when he was out. We left his cage door open during the day for a few months in case he wanted to come out but he never did.

I started a new job which occasionally took me out of town overnight. While I was away for work I would always call home and on one of these trips when I talked to my mother she said Knibbles had passed away. We covered his cage at night and in the morning when she uncovered him he had passed. I told her just cover him up and I'll take care of him when I get home. I was coming home that day. I buried Knibbles behind the garage next to Pete and Goofy Bird. Knibbles passed away September of 2003. He was with us for three years. I was still in contact with my ex-boss after they moved to Florida, and let them know that Knibbles had passed.

When I look back on it now I wish I would have spent more time with Knibbles. He had a warm, safe house to live in and fresh food and water. But I wish now I would have spent more time with him than I did. I wonder now if I should have taken him with me more often around the house, to the kitchen table when we ate, and to the bathroom to sit in front of the mirror as the other birds did. I hope to see all three parakeets in eternity, but if Knibbles is waiting for the little girl from his first family, that is OK also.

I don't believe I have any photos of Goofy Bird or Knibbles. I may have a black and white one of Pete. If I ever come across any photos of them I will post them. Thank you for reading their memorial.