Sacrifices

As the time for our move draws closer, reality has started to sink in. Nancy has talked a lot about getting rid of most of our things so we can make a clean break. I am all for this, I like to think that I am not unduly attached to material things and this is an opportunity to test that. So far I am fine as I see things around the house start to disappear, and I don’t think it will be a big issue for me.

However, we were talking this morning about something a lot more difficult. We have 2 dogs, a big lab mix named Lucy and a little auxiliary dog, Henry. We also have 2 parrots, a quiet little Pionus named Maya, and a big, loud, exuberant Yellow-shouldered Amazon named Tiko. We have had Tiko since he was a baby and he has become a non-stop talker and show-off. The fact is, moving to Mexico, finding a rental, and traveling as we search for the perfect spot to live for good is going to be awfully complicated if we intend to take all 4 animals along.

Before too long, we will have to decide; do we squeeze them all into the van and try to find a rental in Mexico that will take them, or do we need to consider other options? What are the other options? The breeder that sold us Tiko probably would take him back and find him a good home, she is very possessive of her birds and particular about who can buy them. We could certainly find a new home for the other parrot as well. But, how could we give Lucy away, she has been with us 7 years, since she was three months old, a rescue from the pound. And little Henry is already so much a part of the family after 1 year that it is hard to imagine a house without him running around.

The problem is moving from the general, “we’ll just get rid of everything and move down there”, to the specific, we probably need to eliminate some animals as well. That would be a real sacrifice, I don’t know how we will solve it. It’s all part of the process.

Hasta Luego,
Paul

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2 Comments

Brenda
January 7, 2007

I can so relate to this dilema. The hardest part of moving for me was getting rid of our dogs. We decided that it would just be too hard to bring them with us. The oldest dog (a german shepherd) I had had since she was just over a yr. old, a rescue from the pound. She is now 14 yrs. old, a long time friend,and part of my family still in my heart, the little one a part shitz shu (SP??) I had had for a year or so, he was also a pound rescue dog. He was the most loving dog, almost like having another human around (better than lots of humans, lol). It was maybe easier for us as we left initally for 6 months and family looked after them. The older dog would not have travelled well and the younger one had too much energy to be cooped up in a city. The older one is still with family that loves her and the younger one went to a family with children (he loves kids), so I know that they are well looked after; but even after all this time I miss them A LOT. On the other hand, I am glad for them that we did what we did, it would have been very hard on them and that also is not fair to them. We need to take into account their lives as well as our own. Just my take on it. I cannot imagine the logistics of travelling with birds and dogs down here, way too much hassle for me, and I would think for the animals also. Just my 2 cents worth.
Brenda