Seamus Keeper

Long weeks, rough weeks. Glad this week is over.

My sweet budgie Seamus died earlier this week. He would have been 11 years old at the end of May. I was always amazed by how much personality such a small bird could have. He sang constantly. He was very social, very affectionate. He was one of my first pets to learn what a clicker was (he was so enthusiastic about touching a target stick for a bite of millet!)

Seamus was with me for so many major transitions in my life. Starting high school, starting college, euthanizing my Wheaten Terrier, Packy, graduating college and finding a job, struggling through my brief career as a wedding photographer, moving into an apartment. Seamus had gone on family vacations with me, done volumes of homework from his perch on my shoulder. He is the longest lived pet I've ever shared my life with. Seamus was always a constant.

The average life expectancy for a budgie is 8-10 years, although I have heard of them living up to 14. At almost 11, Seamus certainly lived a full life with a larger than life personality, but that doesn't necessarily make it easier.

The apartment is very quiet without his sweet song.