Bebe (Beebee) and other great pets

I'm feeling rather nostalgic today, so eat your heart out. (Where do people get these phrases?! Eat your heart out?! I'm not quite sure what would ever possess you to do such a thing, or why I even suggested it, but there it is).

I am spending a few weeks in Missouri with my grandparents. One of my favorite parts of visiting them is seeing their Cockatiel, Bebe. Yesterday morning, however, I noticed her cage wasn't sitting in it's normal spot. I was aghast. "Where's Bebe?" I questioned my grandma. "Bebes been gone for about a year now, Bekah! You knew that." I tried to remember anyone ever telling me this. We hadn't been to our grandparents for over a year, so I chalked my misinformation up to this. I felt a sense of loss come over me. Many people would probably say she was just a bird, but Bebe wasn't just any old bird. I just couldn't believe it.

Grandma and grandpa had had Bebe for about 25 years (she was older than I was!) Bebe wasn't a particularly lovable bird; she loved grandpa, tolerated grandma, and absolutely hated the rest of us. But she was just so great. I loved watching her hop around her cage. She had a mirror hanging from one bar, and she would always watch herself curiously, as if the "other bird" in her cage would do something strange or unnerving. She had a fun whistle; it wasn't annoying or anything, like a lot of birds tend to be. When my siblings and I were younger and Bebe was in her prime, grandpa would let her out of her cage, and she would fly circles around the house, much to our delight, and would finally settle on grandpa's shoulder. I think one of the reasons I loved her so much was because grandpa did. He would talk quietly to her, and it was as if he were the only person in the world Bebe would listen to.

Grandpa has always had a way with animals. Before our beloved dog Mickey passed away, he would always take long walks with her and you would look out the window and watch him talk to her and pet her, and you wouldn't want to go out and disturb the world they shared, just the two of them. Mickey was the best dog in the world. There are a lot of pretty great dogs out there, to be sure, but Mickey was the best. She was small for a German Shepherd, but what she may have lacked in size she certainly didn't lack in heart. Mickey was somewhat obedient; she knew how to shake and sit but that was about the extent of games she'd allow. Playing fetch with her was a joke; it was more a game of keep-away than anything. I figured out her system though. I would take two sticks outside. I threw one, and then when she brought it back, I would pull the other one out. Suddenly, the stick I now held in my hand was priceless, and the stick she had was junk, not fit to be thrown or gnawed. I threw my stick, and she charged after it, leaving her old stick forgotten on the ground. I would then pick this one up, and our game repeated. It took a few years for her to figure out my game.


Another great pet was Grunty, our Guinea Pig. Grunty was extremely obese and didn't really do much. One Christmas we had brought him to our grandparent's house. One morning we woke up, and were surprised to find little baby Gruntys. I guess there was a reason for Grunty's obesity...Or should I say Gruntina? We all had quite the shock and laugh about a great petcapade.

A final pet I will mention is our cat Oreo. Oreo has been around for about 12 years; we had bought her as a kitten around the same time as we bought our puppy Mickey. Oreo has outlasted every single cat we've ever owned, and I attribute this to her fiesty and almost feral spirit. I will be honest: I am not a big fan of cats. I think they're selfish creatures. But I have a grudging respect for Oreo. She takes care of herself and could definitely hold her own in a bar fight. When Mickey died, Oreo wasn't quite sure what to do. She has come down to the house ever since, and sits in front of the door. I think she truly misses her weird friend that chased her.

We have had many pets throughout our childhood, but these few deserve the trophy.