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HAPPY BIRTHDAY AVA
Our youngest grandchild turns 16 today…I know you must be shook…
the fact that she’s 16 years old…means I‘m much older than I look!
Her birthday elicited in me a memory…older minds do this…as a rule…
It was back when she fractured her arm one day in elementary school.
Attached to this memory is another memory of when I was young…it was a day in early spring…when I found on the ground before me…a baby bird…with a broken wing.
I looked around but saw no nest...and with no time to wonder why
I picked her up, took her home then nursed her till she could fly.
There seems to be an innate quality in most of us...the impulse to be humane
by providing assistance to the weak...as we try to relieve their pain.
But this is not uniquely human...in the animal kingdom it is a running theme.
proving our world, when we stop to look, is not as ruthless as it seems.
It’s amazing where survival of the fittest is the rallying cry we sing
there are still some creatures who take the time to help those with broken wings.
Perhaps it’s one way to show the rest of us (I don’t think this too bizarre)
that all life in this world is precious no matter who or what you are.
That we must remember through the grace of God we are naturally selected
that no matter how you choose to slice it...we are, somehow, all connected.
That we should be treating every living thing with dignity and grace
That for every broken wing we fix...we make the world a better place.
So on your 16th birthday, Ava…
as once again we sing Happy Birthday
and many congratulations to you are spoken…
just a reminder we will be here if you need us…
any time your wing is broken.
