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How a Macaw Bird Helped Me Meet My Mother?

Nature At It's Best

By Anthony ChanPublished 2 years ago Updated 2 years ago 3 min read
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Photo by Zachary Spears on Unsplash.com

My mom Patricia, was always a big fan of Macaw Birds, or as she called them, “beautiful Lapas!” She always admired them and placed visiting a country like Costa Rica on her bucket list so that she could one day meet lots of them, up close and personal. We often talked about her dream, but reality got in the way, and the trip never happened. Sadly, she never met the Scarlet or Great Green Macaw birds that call Costa Rica their home.

Patricia worked as a maid cleaning hotel guest rooms in her native Caribbean country. When she came to the U.S., she also cleaned office buildings. Patricia never shied away from working! She always did whatever was necessary to ensure that we would have enough to survive (including receiving public assistance) when she couldn’t find work to raise me after my dad passed away when I was 10-years old. She worked until her health usurped her ability to do so and passed away at the ripe age of 94. Our bond remained strong even during her last 20 years when she suffered dementia.

Fast-forwarding to 2018, I was touched when my youngest daughter, Mary (age 26 at the time), told me she had a dream to visit Costa Rica. Not surprisingly, I was secretly elated to hear that this trip was also on my daughter’s bucket list.

So off we went to celebrate the turn of the New Year in Costa Rica. I never told her how emotional the trip was for me because I wanted to make the excursion a special father-daughter bonding event. We visited lots of cities and many of nature’s protected habitats.

But one of the most memorable events came early one morning after I took a little time to walk alone around the resort we visited. As I was walking around, I suddenly encountered a beautiful Macaw. At first, the bird was curious to find me staring at (him/her). At that moment, I felt I had entered a time machine capsule.

I was six years old again and could hear Patricia telling me how much she admired these birds and how badly she wanted to see one in their natural habitat. The bird fully cooperated as it continued to look at me from an upper tree branch. I had no time to get emotional because the bird focused intently on me and allowed me to relive my special moments with my mom. I felt she was there with me as the bird rotated its head back and forth.

Although this was a very private moment, a middle-aged woman took a break from cleaning one of the hotel rooms to tell me that she was admiring how I interacted with the bird because she felt most people took the presence of these beautiful creatures for granted. She told me that while she did not have much, being able to experience the beauty of nature made her feel like a wealthy woman.

At that point, I broke down and told her how much those words meant to me because my mom also cleaned hotel rooms and always dreamed of seeing these birds up close and personal but was unable to make the trip due to financial considerations. She hugged me and told me not to worry because she could feel that my mother was with me that morning enjoying the beautiful birds.

She also blurted out that it was clear that the bird was interacting with more than one person. She said these birds have spiritual powers that allow them to see things that humans cannot see. And as she prepared to get back to work, she whispered, “it was so beautiful to see you joining your mom this morning and finally helping her check off that bucket list item!”

It was an experience I will cherish forever!

grief
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About the Creator

Anthony Chan

Chan Economics LLC, Public Speaker

Chief Global Economist & Public Speaker JPM Chase ('94-'19).

Senior Economist Barclays ('91-'94)

Economist, NY Federal Reserve ('89-'91)

Econ. Prof. (Univ. of Dayton, '86-'89)

Ph.D. Economics

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