Our Sweet Jasmine
It has been one week now. Our little Jasmine was beginning to suffer too much and we had to let her go. My friend Shannon knew Jasmine well and she
has written a beautiful tribute to Jasmine in a way that I cannot find words to do. If you have time please read Shannon's tribute: Fly Free, Jazzy!.We were unable to provide a clean enough air environment - it was filled with home cleaning products entering our air space from neighboring apartments. She was a healthy, robust girl - but she couldn't breathe the contaminated air we're making around us. I'm angry, I'm sad, I could rant about how stupid we human beings are. But at the same time, I feel sorry for all the pain and sorrow that will come to us from our lack of awareness. Most of all, it's the hollow of grief left from the loss of a very loving being who is no longer physically in our midst - and for a very pointless reason.
Jasmine was a vibrant, fun-loving little girl. She had her own mind and knew what she liked and she went at life wholeheartedly, enjoying every moment of it. She spread joy and love to just about everyone she
met, and meeting people was the absolute highlight of her life (along with banana, of course).We went to the market last Saturday and she was missed. A little boy in the cafe came running up looking to say hello to her; her friends at the roast chicken stall always enjoyed seeing her each week...
She would always listen and look up adoringly as Tony spoke to her, absorbing each word he said.
She joined in on any activity...
and helped things along in whatever way she thought would be fun...
and she loved to play.
She asked to go out: for a walk or to go shopping. Every time we would go to the bio store for our weekly shopping, if we occasionally had to leave Jazzy at home, everyone would ask where she was. We haven't gone this week...we'd rather make do with the food we have left this week than face feeling the pain of not having her with us there.She loved loafing around on her playstation, being silly, having fun, playing...
...watching to see what new toy configurations we would think up for her to play with next.
She loved being mischievous to get our attention, that's what she wanted most, our attention to play and have fun.
She always had loads of fun when we were out, and so did we. And she was ever eager to try new things.
She made us laugh so easily, and so often - she spread her joy, that was what she did best.
Enthusiasm is also a good word to describe Jazzy. Zest for life.
And of course, beauty.
Jasmine would have turned
three at the beginning of this November, in just a couple of weeks' time. She already had a huge vocabulary. I've been writing down all the things she said. She made up her own sentences and they made sense. She spoke her own mind, she didn't just copy or imitate, though she did enjoy doing that too, in its place. She had a personality plus.
We miss her, always there, always full of cheer. And when we think of her now, we try to hold that cheer and love and joy that she gave us. Hopefully time will help us with our feelings of loss.As she said herself: "Beautiful Jasmine!"
Labels: african grey, air filter, chemical sensitivity, cleaning agents, environment, Jasmine, parrots
© copyright 2007 - 2008 posted by DweezelJazz @ 10:50 AM
13 Comments
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13 Comments:
I'm so very sorry for your loss.
Hi Mallow, thank you very much.
I'm sorry she's gone, but why couldn't you take her to a rescue or adoption agency? Even if it meant a long drive . . .
Hello Beloved Parrot,
You ask a very good question. A drive was not the problem, in fact we drove a five hour round trip to Lyon where they have one bird specialist. Bird specialists are few and far between here in France. Effort was not our problem.
I know of no one here, and I know many people, who doesn't use strong laundry detergent and fabric softener and strongly perfumed products in addition. I have not covered all of the difficulties in this particular post nor have I been so explicit perhaps. But I would not have let Jasmine go to another household in France with so many risks to her health being almost certain under these environmental conditions. There is nothing comparable in the United States to the level of use of perfumed products here.
I wanted to take Jazzy to the U.S. to a friend, but Jasmine was not registered with CITES and the United States does not allow importation from our area of France right now (there have been cases of bird flu in our area). We would have stopped at no lengths, but getting past those obstacles would take time; and so we were trying to keep her alive until we could move. We failed.
I would have gladly given Jasmine to anyone who really could have taken care of her and provided her with clean air so she could live happily and well. We considered all of those options, and in the long-term, if we could have saved her I would have made sure she got to the U.S. somehow.
Jasmine already had this problem when we got her; she had spent over six months in a garden center next to pesticides and other animals whose cages were being cleaned with strong chemicals. We tried everything we could within our financial framework.
Thank you for asking, the situation certainly begs that question and the answer seems most unbelievable. You have only my viewpoint to judge the situation, but time will probably show that we humans are being incredibly stupid with our lack of judgment in our use of chemicals.
I'm so sorry -- I didn't realize you were in France. I know there's a remarkable avian vet in, I think, Amsterdam, but that might have been out of reach for you or you may not have even known of him.
Hello Beloved Parrot,
access to a vet was not the problem. The avian specialist in Lyon had already seen Jasmine in July, and he was of the opinion that Jasmines' picking and plucking was triggered by her allergies and environmental sensitivity, not behavioural or psychological. That, in the end, is why we couldn't save her.
The French use strong cleaning products, detergents, perfumes, pesticides, and other things, and it's impossible to escape the fumes. That sounds hard to believe, but it's true.
Dweezeljazz and I are both aware of the excessive use of chemicals here, Dweezeljazz because she has lived in the US and sees the contrast, I because I have learned to change my lifestyle since living with Dweezeljazz. I used to use the same products myself, through sheer ignorance of what they do, but now I know better. I can personally vouch for how easy it is to use this stuff without thinking, and that's what everyone here does. It's cultural, it's marketing, it's everywhere.
Nobody we know here could have provided an environment clean enough for Jasmine. People here are simply not aware of what it takes to provide a non-toxic home. We went to extraordinary lengths to do so, and we failed. We do not believe that anyone here would have been able to do a better job.
That sounds arrogant and implausible, I know, but you would have to see it (smell it?) to believe it. We have smelled strong fabric softener on people 100 feet away while cross-country skiing. Even we find it hard to believe, and we witness it every day.
Nor could we export her to a better place. Ironically, being an endangered species meant more paperwork, and a process that takes months here. We would probably still be waiting even if we had started in July.
That's the crux of the problem, we could never have kept Jasmine healthy and happy while she was being continuously poisoned by the everyday life around us, and we couldn't get her to anywhere safer in time to save her.
Sorry for such a lengthy comment, but we do want people to understand our actions. We would have done anything we could to have saved Jasmine, but we really believe we had no options left to us.
I understand, and again, I'm sorry you had to let her go.
Oh no! I'm so sorry for your loss. This was really sad to see.
Sometimes the human kind is truly the worst animal on the planet. My husband and my our youngest son have allergies so I know how hard it is to escape perfumes and so on.
Hi Sanna,
Yes, it seems nearly impossible, especially in Europe, at least compared to the U.S. - the two places I have most experience. I often think of you and your family and hope you are getting along well. Thank you for your kind thoughts.
People don't think, a teacher that very well knows about allergies in my sons school showers in perfume, not only before she goes to work but while she is still there. You can find her simply by sniffing your way through the corridors.
Life is flowing on in it's own pace here. I've been ill for months now and the doctors still don't know why. They have found that I have had Lyme disease, but that's not what's ailing me now.
Hi Sanna,
No people really don't think. My heart goes out to you for your family; I know how hard it can be. I'm so sorry to hear you are having health difficulties. Sending you many best wishes.
Dweezeljazz,
I am sorry I'm so late in my condolences. I am sitting at my desk and tears are now running down my face.
You gave Jazzy such a great life while she was with you, and I know she brought joy to lots of people while she was here.
I wish I could give you a big hug. I hope you guys are doing ok.
Bon courage.
Dear Mary,
Thank you so much for your kindness, it means a great deal to me and to Tony. We do get your hug, thank you. I've never lost anyone so precious to me as Jazzy and I'm still devastated. Shannon sent us a lovely present of framed large photos of Jasmine which arrived yesterday evening and Jazzy has been looking at me all day with her clear, bright, beautiful eyes. I miss her so.
Thank you for your love,
Nat and Tony
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