PeeDee Gets A New Home for Christmas (Re-Post)

I have decided to relate a happy incident from my childhood...a sort of "feel-good" story.

We were living in Sellwood, a suburb of Portland. I was around 4 years old and my dad bought me a new pet. We had always had birds, cats (Iggy), dogs (Whitey), rabbits, turtles, fish...but my dad got me a tiny yellow gosling.

I named him "PeeDee" and he went everywhere with me. I would carry his soft little body with me everywhere I went. He would even go into the giant claw-foot tub with me. PeeDee must have liked living with us because he grew and grew and grew. He lost all of his soft, yellow down and started growing his snow white feathers. Even when he became fully grown, I would carry PeeDee everywhere I went.

PeeDee had a few people and animals that he did not like, and that was everyone but me. Poor Whitey could no longer go into the back yard without being pecked and beaten by PeeDee's wings. Iggy would go up the pear tree to escape. But PeeDee especially didn't like my dad and would peck, hiss and fly after my dad. All summer long, PeeDee got bigger and became more hateful.

Then, one night...sometime before Christmas, my dad told me that he had found a "new home" for PeeDee. We all climbed in the Pontiac and I held PeeDee on my lap. Now, it didn't take much to get me into that Pontiac...I loved night drives because the indian hood ornament lit up when the headlights were switched on. It was so neat!

So, off we went. We drove for awhile until we came to a huge building. there were trucks full of chickens and turkeys parked everywhere. People were walking about dressed in white uniforms with caps covering their hair. It seemed like a very busy place. My dad got out of the car and talked with a man. They would look over, occasionally, but were talking so quietly that I couldn't hear what they were saying.

Finally the man came over and told me that he would take PeeDee and that he would go to a good home for Christmas, along with all the other birds that I saw. I was so happy that PeeDee would get to spend Christmas at somebody's home.

We drove away and I was so happy that PeeDee would enjoy Christmas.

Now, didn't that story make you feel all warm and cozy inside?