I am "Pretty Bird"

My name is Cookie. Kathleen gave me this name when she first met me because I liked to bite cookies and taste milk out of a glass. I have spent 25 years with Kathleen and have watched her roles change from a daycare teacher, to a wife, to a mother, and to the country loving weirdo that she is now. If I could say more than " pretty bird" I could have a book on living the life with her and her family. My life with Kathleen began when I flew away from whoever had me and landed in the yard of the principal of the school that Kathleen taught at. Kathleen was more than glad to take me off of the Principal's hands. I soon met Kathleen's husband, sweetie. Also, I met Kathleen's feline friends who tried to taste me for dinner. I soon let them know with a quick bite and a hissing sound that that idea would not work. Needless to say, I ruled the roost. I was constantly perched on someone's shoulder. Over the years, Kathleen's family grew and there were soon 3 small children who poked their fingers at me and talked to me all of the time. They were somewhat entertaining. I loved to fly from door top to door top, watching and surveying from my high post. One day, as I was flying to the kitchen door top, one of the children came in through the door, I missed my landing and went straight outside. Was I scared! I landed upside down in a tree and found myself surrounded by 7 hungry cats. How happy I was to feel Kathleen's hands clasp around me and to carry me back inside! Kathleen whistles the same song to me over and over, I sing my own version back, which seems to make her happy anyway. I now have slowed down in my flying. I have to be careful because sometimes, I hit the door instead of landing on it. I spend my days playing with my bells and bright colored toys and sometimes I whistle to the birds I hear outside. The children that once were so small don't stop by to visit much anymore,they are tall and now not much interested in me, except maybe a whistle to me now and then. If the weather is pretty, I sit out on the front porch and enjoy the day. When the days are extremely cold, I sit by the fireplace pufffed up, sleepy and enjoy treats being fed to me. My feathers are a little worn, but I still look beautiful, ... Kathleen tells me so, as well as the bird on the other side of the glass I look into. I don't know much about the life outside of my cage bars, except for feeling scared and lost when I get away from them. Even though it seems like a cage, it is my corner of the world, where all is safe and even if only in Kathleen's eyes, I am still "Pretty Bird".