Habib's Story, Part 3: The Gift

The next morning, I got a note from Vee.  By royal decree, Saudi's ban on bird imports is absolute.  No manner of help or contacts will allow her to take Habib to her new house.  Even in her short message, I could hear how distraught she was.  She did not have any other immediate options here.

I read her note and felt so bad for her--it was just the level of frustration and sadness I had felt having to give up El Jefe...except I had three children to distract me, and El Jefe had not been the miraculous story that Habib was.  I felt heart sick all over again, only for this lady I hadn't really met.

Then it occurred to me: a possibly wacky idea going against what John and I had envisioned and because we had in fact tried it in the past but then here we were in a totally different situation compared to the U.S. and here was this incredible story about this bird being rescued and tamed and loved so much and yes, it WAS a little outlandish and no, she didn't really know me and she might think I was totally crazy, but we did have experience with African Greys and she really DID seem to be out of options and it would be such a joy for us and maybe could be a comfort to her and what if...what if...I mean what IF we offered to adopt Habib?  My heart started racing and I got all giddy even at the idea.

But I knew I had to convince John first.

So, being the writing teacher that I am, I (in my head and probably talking aloud to myself) started composing a tightly structured, all-angles and questions addressed, well presented, logic-driven but with the perfect little sprinkling of pathos on top argument that I could present to John.  I listed all the reasons it would be good.  I thought through the struggles.  I practically had to sit on my hands not to call him at work right that second. But I didn't.  I sat or rather sort of danced around thinking about the possibilities...assuming she really really really couldn't take Habib with her.  A bird. An adoptive home.  A solution for Vee.  A new family member for us.  A special friendship all around.  It was all I could do NOT to sit down and write a PowerPoint presentation reinforcing my arguments.  Yes, I am a complete nerd.

I would have to talk to John but then if he was okay with it I could offer the idea to Vee...but how could I let her know that I wanted the offer to be a kind extension and not that I was just grabbing for this precious bird that she loved?

And then, literally as I was pondering and dancing and feeling happier than I'd felt in a while, another message came to my inbox.  Yes, it was just like that Sleepless in Seattle..."you've got mail!"

Vee asked me if I would consider adopting Habib.

What?
Are you kidding me?
This was like the pet universe winding up and delivering me the most awesome gift, like a payback in happiness for all the sadness we felt leaving El Jefe and the cats and the dog with other loving homes.  And the irony and timing and cosmic alignment or fate or coincidence was so amazing that I still feel a little drunk thinking about it.  John and I had just about come to the depressing conclusion that we would not be able to have a pet in Doha, I reach out to one last seemingly random person for any advice, and because of the struggle she is sadly facing, we may be able to not only help her but have our wishes come true.  Crazy.  Universe.

No I didn't drop everything and call John right that second. I resolved to wait until he got home from work.  That lasted 15 minutes, and then I called him.  I started with the story of Habib's inability to go to Saudi (John already knew about Vee and Habib's background).  He knew exactly where I was going with my spiel, but not that Vee had extended the idea.  He listened. He agreed!   We could adopt Habib.

I let Vee know that we would love to be Habib's adoptive parents, and she said they would be leaving some time in September.  She was so heart broken but wanted to spend as much time with him as possible.

Part of me was actually praying something would work out with Saudi, that she would be able to take him after all, just because I felt so bad for Vee...but then part of me was over-the-moon about adopting him.  That is a very strange combination of emotions...like being multiple personality but knowing it.

Now, despite dragging everything out up to this point...I really did this for myself...I want to remember every detail of this incredible friendship for the rest of my life...I'll summarize the difficult next phase:  About a week or 10 days later, Vee decided that it would be better for Habib to get settled with us before they left.  We made a date for all five of us to go see him and meet Vee and her husband in person.  They are the nicest people, originally from South Africa and with family there as well as in Doha, and looking to return to South African after retirement.  Everything with our meeting and Habib went well, so we brought him home last weekend, about three weeks following the start of this story.

For all the "blank spots" in that summary, you should probably fill in reminders of how hard this has been for Vee.  She has been so gracious, but I  know she is mourning the loss of her boy.  Vee and her husband actually lived in Houston for a while, so they are good with our Texas twang, and they were so sweet to our kids (who made themselves right at home in Vee's house...even putting their feet on her furniture!  Argh! No home training for my heathens!).

Marhaba bik, Habib!  Translated from the Arabic: A special welcome to you, Sweet Boy!

Now, my next post will be about the re-homing process and a couple of fun stories.  This is one smart bird...and Vee did an incredible job of taming him.  My heart and thanks go to her about a thousand times per day.

He's not mad, he's curious:
This is Habib looking into the camera on my laptop.  

The "fish eye" filter is turned on so his head is a little distorted (looks bigger).