Birds and animals never cease to amaze me. Especially in the bird kingdom seeing that I have had a fear of chickens and birds for years. It has taken me years to get to where I really can be with or near them without fear. Who knows, maybe the day will come when I can enter our chicken pen and not be faced with that fear. But for now I enjoy the smaller birds. Dick and I both love just sitting on the porch and listening and watching them as they go about their day.

We also own cats. You don’t have to be smart to understand the humor there as our cats love to hunt. We have rescued lots of birds right out of their mouths as they try and sneak them into the house. We always are blessed when we have saved one and it can then fly away to resume it’s life in the wild.

A couple years ago was one of those saves but this time not just from the jaws of the cat but from Dick and the mower. I heard an unusual noise coming from the sun room so I went to inspect as our cats have a way of upsetting things as they play and chase an occasional bee that has gotten in. When I enter the room I just stopped. There was a baby robin trying to get into through the screen and my cat was on the inside trying to grab it. I hit panic mode as I knew I couldn’t open the screen and safely grab the bird. So I ran as fast as these old crippled legs could run out the front door, down the stairs and around the house. The bird was a robin and partially feathered out just hadn’t enough feathers to fly yet. Needed a few more days. When I round the house it was gone. I stood and listened for it and then fear struck. I heard it in the pasture not far on the other side of the fence but along with that, Dick was coming that way with the mower and I knew he wouldn’t see it in the tall grass and he’d run over it. I ran through the gate and got on the far side of it and it saw me and began to hop as fast as it could in to the pig pen. Talk about fear. I could just see Damien or Sammy having fresh meat for lunch. But they just stood and watched it has it continued on through their pen. I finally got Dick’s attention and he stopped the mower and came to see what I was doing. I told him about the baby bird and he went after it and finally caught up and picked it up. I thanked him and took it. It was so small and scared. I cuddled it and petted it and assured it we’d do all we could to help. I saw mamma and daddy not far off watching to see what I was going to do.

Now Dick, a couple years ago, nail up a basket on the side of a tree that we use to put some of the birds that are in shock but ok, so they can recover and fly away. I had hoped it might stay there and mamma could feed and care for it. But it had better ideas and hopped out and to the ground. I followed behind as mamma began to call to it. It would stop and just look at me and then hop on. Then it made it to the edge of the pasture where the weeds were high against the fence. Mamma began to gather a few worms and take it to it one at a time. I also knew there was a hole in the bottom of the old oak stump where it was hiding in the grass. I sat on the porch and watched it and mamma and daddy care for it. But also astounding was the fact that two finches came and helped to stand guard of it while mamma and daddy went worm hunting.

As evening fell, I went in praying that God would care for it and keep it safe. Next day I watched again as mamma fed it and it would then run back inside the old tree stump. About four days went by and I saw it in the yard and it flew up onto the fence. It was still alive. It looked my direction but just sat there and wasn’t afraid of me. I saw it off and on during that day. Then two days ago it was flying really good. But here is the heartwarming part of it all.
It landed in the yard as I stood on the porch and I began to talk to it. It hopped towards my voice and looked up from the ground and was really close to the porch. Then it flew away to the fence. Today as Dick and I sat on the porch listening and watching the birds, here it comes and landed just maybe 4 feet from the porch and chirps at us. Then mamma came and landed right beside it and just looked at us and then slowly hopped away and the baby followed. I got the feeling it knew we meant no harm. What a blessing that was. Never under estimate the beauty of nature. It is one of God’s most beautiful part of creation.

Before I begin, please let me say that I am not pointing a finger at anyone nor do we love anyone the less just because we are from the old school and they are from a newer school. We each have to find our own way to live our lives to the fullest, love each other, respect each other and so forth. But for Dick and I, we are from the old school.

When we traveled to Florida and back in May of 2009, I left there with a feeling of forlorn and not really understanding why I was feeling that way. I thought maybe it was because we were once again leaving our children behind as we traveled home to Tennessee. I was so confused over the feelings that I never mentioned them to Dick. I’m good at “stuffing” my feelings unless I have a good reason to expose them.

Well, we  made another trip to Florida because Dick wanted the chance to see his brother one more time before he died. So off we went and Dick got to spend several days with him in Hope Hospice and on Tuesday in his own home where they brought him to die. Deb, Dick’s sister had flew down from Ohio to take care of him.

Dick also enjoyed seeing our grand kids and being able to spend time with them. Then we were headed home. I was dealing once more with those feelings. On the way down we had heard a country song on the radio “We’re from the old school” and on the way home I began thinking about it and the words. Then to my surprise Dick began to talk about his feelings and how disappointed he was at how we were treated by some. So we began dialoguing about the “old school” and soon it was becoming clear to what we were feeling and we were able to discuss it openly. We readily agreed that we are from the “old school.”

Let me explain if I can. We were raised to respect each other in our families and to love them no matter what. We were taught to “open doors”, say “please” and “thank you” and to always favor those who were not always with us all the time. Company always came first. We would cancel plans just to be there with company and to show them good old school hospitality so to speak. Never would or could we ever think of telling someone that we had other plans or had to be at work if we knew their visit was a short one and that it would be awhile before we saw them again. We were raised that it was only fitting to cancel our own plans to accommodate whoever was visiting. No way would we get up and walk out of a room leaving company to fend for themselves. Just how we were raised.

Yet we found ourselves entertaining ourselves for the most part and leaving for home without anyone there to see us off. Left us with a feeling of void. Now we are not dumb and know that sometimes things just happen that we have no control over. Sometimes work takes top priority. But we would see that someone, somehow was there.

We were amazed that our niece not only greeted us outside as we drove to her place but they spent the entire time sitting with us and showing pictures. What a blessing. Then there was Greg who knew we would arrive late in the evening and we had planned on leaving when he left the next morning for work. But he also is from the old school and when we woke up, he had called into work to say he’d be late and he had prepared breakfast for us and then helped us load the car so that we could travel on to Fort Myers to see Todd. This gave us a feeling of being cared for and we really appreciated it. Yet others, although they love us and we love them, had their own lives to live and went on with it. Even our granddaughter that we had helped to raise, got up and went outside just leaving us sitting. Didn’t even bother to ask us to go outside with her. Just got up and went. We went back to our room with a feeling of not being wanted, yet we do understand that we are from the old school.

Dick and I agreed that we feel sorry for those who have not learned these lessons. They are missing out on so much of what family and friends are all about. We have a generation of children who will never know their extended families and relatives. They won’t know about their background or where they came from. They will have no connection to the past. And because they don’t know, they don’t want to know. They feel it is ok and life goes on. Dick and I wander who will tell their children who they really are and where they really came from. Who will tell them where their “roots” run.

Yes, we are from the “Old School.” We know where relatives live, died and are buried. We know where we come from and where our roots lie. We love visiting the “old home” places and cemeteries and learning who this person was that belonged to our family. Gives us a sense of belonging and worth that cannot be described in simple terms.

Dick has always had a time dealing with his feelings and it was no different this time. But by talking it through and seeing our family for who they are and not what we could make them be, finally put our feelings to rest. Our hurt turned to pity for things they will never know or feel. We are just two old folks from the Old School who love their kids and grand kids.