In the early evening I would sit outside under the tree near our house and watch the birds. One day I saw a Blue Jay come and chase the other birds away if they got to close. I noticed that every time she did that, 2 little Blue Jays would fly up and eat the seeds in the feeder that was hanging in the tree. Then I noticed that she would hop from branch to branch and the little birds would follow her. This went on for a few weeks. She would look down from the branch where she was perched to check on them.
Then one day, only the 2 little birds would come. They would eat the seeds and hop around the branches. Everyday they would fly further and further from our tree but always come back until one day they stopped coming. Shortly after that, to my surprise, the mama bird came back. She did not look down from the branches, yet stood there perched. She looked different somehow, proudly standing on her branch and on occasion I could feel her look up into the sky.
It occurred to me and I understood that we are all like that mama bird, protecting and feeding her babies when they were little, teaching them the ropes as they hopped from branch to branch. Leaving them to fend for themselves and finally allowing them to spread their wings and fly away.
We will be here perched, as this is the time in your life to fly away. Our tree will always be your tree where your roots are planted, where we protected you, taught you the ropes, but now it’s time to spread your wings.
Written By Susan J. Englisis