Leave-Taking

Canadian writer Graeme Gibson bought a parrot in Mexico which he named Harold Wilson. When it appeared that Harold was not adapting well to the dark Canadian winter Gibson decided to donate him to the Toronto Zoo. As Gibson placed him on a perch and turned to go Harold surprised him:

“Harold did something that astonished me. For the very first time, and in exactly the voice my kids might have used, he called out ‘Daddy!’ When I turned to look at him he was leaning towards me expectantly. ‘Daddy’, he repeated.
“I don’t remember what I said to him. Something about him being happier there, that he’d soon make friends. The kind of things you say to kids when you abandon them at camp. But outside the aviary I could still hear him calling ‘Daddy! Daddy!’ as we walked away. I was shattered to discover that Harold knew my name, and that he did so because he’d identified himself with my children.

I find this story unspeakably poignant.

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Thanks Bruce!