Bobbie Pulls Parrot Lovers Together

By Linda Goldston, San Jose Mercury News, first published in October 2000.

They met online in a chat room about conures.

James Lucier of San Jose had a lot of questions about Bobbie, his small yellow parrot, and Heather van der Zweep of Morgan Hill and many others were happy to help. Only 20 miles were between them, but their computers forged the friendship link. For months, it was their only link.

"James and Bobbie became an inspiration to the members of our chat group,'' Heather said. "He was always honest and frank in his description of the joys and challenges of sharing his life with a demanding, bossy but loving conure." "In fact, he sometimes took criticism from members of the group when he described his occasional frustration and anger when he did not always understand her behavior."

"Parrots are not domesticated animals so those of us who chose to share our lives with them must learn to understand them for who they are, not for what we want or expect them to be."

Heather and other members of the conure chat group were struck by James' efforts to make Bobbie's life better. "When she developed a calcium deficiency and a broken leg as a result, he redesigned her cage so she could move around it more easily. He added full-spectrum lighting to help her absorb vitamin D. He changed her diet and made sure she always had the nutritious foods that she needed. He indulged her love of baths by providing her with her very own `birdie fountain.' He created a Web site devoted solely to her, and her life."

James and Bobbie had been together for 10 years and James' love and devotion to the small yellow bird continued to move and inspire the chat group. "Bobbie had been there for him through some difficult personal times,'' Heather said. "James has often referred to her as his rock. He is a single guy who lives alone so I'm sure you can understand how he looked forward to greeting her every day after work and spending most of his free time with her. Bobbie went everywhere with James.''

Bobbie died earlier this year after a short illness. As they had throughout her life, the chat room members were there for James to talk about her death. "Even in her sickness, Bobbie fought to stay with her beloved James, fighting tenaciously for her life over three days,'' Heather said. Chat room members from around the world signed on to help James with his grief.

"The communal grieving process was also a blessing to those of us who grew to know and love Bobbie by James' wonderful descriptions of their life together,'' Heather said. "While in the grand scheme of things the death of a companion parrot may not have a great impact,'' she said, "but it has held great meaning to those of us who know and love James and loved Bobbie.''

A week after Bobbie's death, James and Heather met in person for the first time. James lives in a small studio apartment and had no appropriate place to bury Bobbie's body. At 10 a.m. on a Saturday, "the chat group united online to light one final candle for Bobbie while James laid her to rest under a guava tree in my back yard,'' Heather said.

In a page on James' Web site called "Bobbie's Day of Burial,'' James noted that "Heather had prepared a site, an angel, Bobbie's picture, a 2-foot deep hole. Bobbie was buried while `In the Arms of an Angel' played in the background.'' James then placed three laser-embossed stones Heather had purchased in a circle. They read: Peace, Hope and Love.

"She is guarded by a stone angel and watched over by my feathered family,'' Heather said.
"The healing has begun.''