Lorrito was a parrot given to my mother by one of her clients. Her client was suffering from a terminal disease, therefore she couldn't take care of the parrot anymore. She knew that my mother loved animals and we had a small jungle of pets over the years. And so, she decided our home would be the best option for the Amazonian Parrot, Lorrito.
I later found out that my mother's client was the second person to take care of him, as his first human also had health issues and could not look after him after a while. When we got Lorrito, he was around 15 years old. I was 12.
Him and my mother had a very special bond; not one you would expect human and bird to form. He would call my mum his 'love', 'darling', profess his love to her and sweet-talk her. If you thought parrots don't understand the meaning behind the words they learn, you were wrong. He knew exactly what he was saying, and that is proven by all the times he would call someone who pissed him off 'wanker' (malakas <μαλάκας> in Greek).
He attacked my mum and my dad a few times, usually when he got scared of something, or jealous (he was very possessive of my mum); thankfully, nothing too serious -even though both my parents have a couple of scars because of him. Quite often, when he heard my mum taking a shower he would sneak in the bathroom, climb the bath curtain and peek-a-boo her. She would then put him on her shoulder and take a shower with him. Other times, my mum would be sitting on the couch eating pumpkin seeds whilst watching TV and he would be beside her eating pumpkin seeds as well.
During the summer they would share her watermelon with feta cheese or my mum would be using the garden hose on him and he'd say 'my love' and 'I like this' to her. He let her pet him on his head, his neck and sometimes his back and belly. If I or my father wanted to touch him, he would usually wrap his claws around our finger and say something nice. Unless he was in a bad mood. Then he would swear at us and try to bite us. As long as you were nice to him and didn't do any sudden movements around him, you were going to be fine.
I'm now realising I'm talking about a bird as if he was human. But you see, he was still part of my family and my mother loved him as her child. He had a personality and characteristics, he wasn't a silent observator... Oh, he wasn't silent at all! I'll never forget him trying to mimic our voices (he was always more successful in mimicking my dad's voice) or shouting happily when he heard children on TV (he seemed to have a soft spot for kids) or trying to unsuccessfully repeat the news on TV.
Unfortunately, my parents found out very recently he was suffering from bacteria in his gut. Apparently, this type of bacteria is normal in parrots when they live in the jungle, but can harm them when they're domesticated. My parents tried hard to find someone who specialises in exotic birds to help them, and even though they did, Lorrito didn't seem to get better. Today I received the phone call informing me that my mother found him dead in the same spot he fell asleep last night.
He has gotten so much love over the years and had a plethora of adventures in the 20 years he had been with us. I truly hope and wish his soul will rest in peace. What gives me some sort of comfort is he is not suffering anymore. I hope my dad and even more so my mum will be able to heal from that loss.
