When Kevin was about 15, he acquired a cockatiel and named it Bruno.  Bruno had the run of the house, and made himself at home chewing up anything he could get his little beak around.  I have to admit that Kevin and I had words more than once about this bird.  Although he had destructive habits, Bruno was a loving bird and it was hard to stay mad at him.

As luck would have it, one day someone left a door open and Bruno decided to see what the outside world had to offer.  Kevin was devastated.  We spent days searching for him.  We drove the neighborhoods for miles around our house, questioning everyone we saw and looking in every bush and tree - but no Bruno was to be found.  Kevin was especially down, because about a month earlier he had severely burned his hand, spent a couple of weeks in the hospital, and was then undergoing painful therapy.  The loss of Bruno in this difficult time made things seem dark indeed. 

About two weeks after we had given up ever finding Bruno, I happened to be reading the local paper at work.  When I finished the paper, I tossed it in the wastebasket, and my eye was drawn to the "Lost and Found" section.  I don't know what possessed me, but I picked the paper out of the trash and began reading the entries.  Sure enough there was a "Found Bird" entry that matched Bruno's description and the location and timing were right.  I called the number and the woman said she had been having a barbecue one evening and this bird came out of nowhere and landed on her shoulder.  She said I could come and look at the bird, but she warned me that she would have to be convinced the bird recognized me before she would turn it over.  She had already refused to give the bird to someone who claimed it was their bird because when these people approached the bird it was so obviously afraid of them.  I told her that if it was Bruno, he would recognize us and I made an appointment to take a look.

I phoned Kevin and told him of the appointment.  He was so excited that I cautioned him about getting his hopes up, reminding him there was a possibility this wasn't Bruno at all.  We arrived at the woman's house and knocked on the door.  When she answered, she opened the door wide enough for us to see inside.  We immediately saw the bird sitting on a perch on the other side of the room and it did look like Bruno.  About half a second after we saw the bird, it saw us - it let out a squawk and flew like an arrow to land on Kevin's shoulder.  He began rubbing the top of his head on Kevin's neck, under his jaw, and made soft cooing noises.  Everyone had tears in their eyes and the woman said "Well, I guess he recognizes you - you can take him home."  We took Bruno home and he continued to live with us until Kevin joined the Navy.

When Kevin joined the Navy, his mother offered to take care of Bruno while he was gone.  I'm not sure of the entire story, but I believe Jackie became unable to care for Bruno for some reason and gave him to a friend.  I believe that Bruno is still alive.  If anyone knows his fate, please let me know at doug@dougprintz.com