Stories of Kindness from Around the World

My 24 Hours With Hope


--by liliana, posted Jul 7, 2007

Yesterday, was a beautiful Saturday morning, Memorial Day Weekend in New Jersey.   My partner and I decided to invite our friends for an all Day BBQ, cocktails, food and some volleyball.  In the summers, we love to have lots of people visit us.

While I was in our patio, setting up the volleyball net, I saw this little tiny newborn bird that appeared to have just fallen from a huge tree.  I was amazed at how tiny he was! He was not moving at all, but his little eyes were open  and looking all around.   So I grabbed him and he just stayed there in my hand and opened his mouth really wide. :)   "Oh yes, he's hungry," I said to myself.   I went inside the house, and gave him water with a little baby pump and tiny pieces of bread. He ate it all.

Although I couldn't see any physical signs of injury, it was obvious that he was hurt. People started to come over, and music started to take up the whole block, but I was taking care of the bird, hour after hour. I placed a winter scarf in the patio, under a tree, with a water bowl and some bread, but it seemed like he couldn't see, or maybe he was just a baby and still needed to be fed. My partner made fun of "my new pet" but I kept keeping my eye on the guests, the food, the party and my little bird. I just wanted him to get better and reunite with his parents.  Some hours later, I heard that one of the kids hit the bird with a ball raquet.  I was FURIOUS! but fortunately, the bird survived.

Night time came, and I went to the patio with a flashlight, and he had moved away from the scarf. I saw a couple of cats walking around, so I decided to take him in the house, feed him again, and just see how he wakes up. This morning, he was in front of the couch, and as soon as he felt my hand on his little head, he opened his mouth so wide, it was the cutest thing ever!!! I havent been so touched for months.

I decided to go to the pet store and get him a birdcage, some real food and I took him with me in the car. He was in the passenger's seat, but it amazed me how the whole way he would look outside the window and then look for me.  I literally felt like he was staring at me. The whole way there, I spoke to him and told him that he was meant to fly and be free, not to be left behind or hurt by humans.  And I told him that I would do everything possible to cure him and he would be flying in days. 

I named him HOPE.

I placed him in the cage and he started eating better.  He drank some more water, and kept asking for more.   Hours later, my boyfriend and I decided to go 4 a ride on our motorcycles. So I told Hope, I would be back.  He ate a little more, and looked better, so I was quite certain that the recovery was going great!

When I got back from riding, I rapidly went to him, and he was dead. He was lying there, with his little eyes still open. It killed me inside.

I know it is a bird I met just 24 hours ago, but he looked at me, and I looked at him, and I fell in love. I am not a bird person, but I do love animals. And losing Hope, hurted.  I cried, and took him down to the patio where I found him, under the tree. 

I can't explain how it felt, but his presence in my life for those 24 hours were great. He made me melt with just one look!  He was so tiny, so alive in a way when he wanted food, he would try to move around and fly and couldn't and maybe in a way I felt the same way with my life. When you know you are supposed to be flying high and you feel stuck and the world keeps going at 100 miles per hour and you just want to breath a little and have a helping hand to give you some Hope that things will be better tommorrow. 

I just found this website, by coincidence, and I needed to sign up and write this. I don't know who will read it, who will understand where this story comes from, or why I feel this way about a little bird that 2 days ago was not in my life, but I felt so much warmth when I had him in my hands, so fragile, grasping for a warm and quiet spot. So, when I saw this website and read so many stories from people and their acts of kindness it made me write my Saturday's story. I did not do a kind act for Hope -- he did it for me!

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Readers Comments

thaata wrote: It is 5 years back the story was wrote but i read it today and experienced the actual sequence of events. It moved me very much. All of us are quite lovable and caring inside but put on a mask to face this world. Your love to hope is spontaneous and unconditional and without expectations. Hence rich. Thank you.

sysgram wrote: There is an amazing pull to help the innocent helpless. Good for you for rising to the challenge. You did all you possibly could.
Norman wrote: A little help certainly goes a long way. Thanks for highlighting the need to give for its only then that we certainly receive. Thanks for sharing and welcome to the site.
MarkofLove wrote: Liliana - your story reminded me of something similar that happened to my boyfriend, but his experience was with a baby duck that he fell in love with. He cared for it for a few days before it died. The way you explained it was exactly how he felt as well. It made me see a different side of him i had not known before, that gentle caretaker soul that lies deep within. So thank you for sharing your story, i really enjoyed reading it and will have him read it as well. He also felt like no one could understand, and i will show him that what he went through happens to others also.
vinanth wrote: Hi.

I wish you get back your little hope back in some other way.
Rachael wrote: This is truly wonderful story.

It is a call to rise up and help, no matter what. It does not always end well but there will be the satisfaction that we did what we could at the right time.
sarita kumar wrote: Dear friend
Still you did the best you could do
He taught you a lesson
Never leave any act incomplete


We learn from the lesson like this


"the road to perfection is always under construction. "
sethi wrote: Thank you being kind and compassionate for a living being. God bless.
Meeta wrote: This story is very touching i can feel and see the bird and you too i. e . Whole movie is front of me.


Thanks for sharing.
Ammasuta wrote: This touching story is a great testimonial that the same soul exists in the tiniest of god's creatures as in you and me and all of humanity. It was a soul-to-soul experience, and the binding thread between the two souls was unconditional love, the universal language. God bless you, 'hope', for giving this valuable lesson.

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