This is a story of what happened when Bob and I went to local restaurant one time. I wasn't eavesdropping, the woman in the next booth was just talking real loud. She was telling her friend Betty this story:

Her father had gone back to Italy as he was getting up in years. He wanted to spend his "last days" in the old country where he grew up and was raised. He asked her if she would take care of his birds as he couldn take them with and he so loved these two rare and expensive birds.

She was honored that her father thought so much of her as to give his two favorite birds to her so she said, "Yes, Dad I will be honored to take care of your birds." And so he brought them over along with all the things she would need to feed and take care for them.

In the meantime, I was looking at Bob and wondering if he was listening to what this woman was telling her friend Betty, at what was being said. I was facing her and Bob has his back to her.

Well, she told her friend that her dad had flown to Italy and a few days after he left, one of the birds died, just bellied-up. She was terribly upset but decided not to tell her father. She called his friend Pasquale, instead, and told him what had occured. He said it would be best not to mention it to her dad as it would upset him so much.

Well, she placed the little bird in a box and buried him in the backyard. A few weeks went by and one day the other bird flew out an open window. She hit the panic button and searched everywhere for the bird. But alas, it was not to be found.

She called a local pet store and thought perhaps she would buy another pair of birds to replace her dad's birds. But the pet store owner said that type of bird was really expensive. He wouldnt even tell her how much a pair of birds like that would cost. He had implied, however, that it would be well over a $1000 per bird.

In tears and almost hysterical, she called her dad's friend, Pasquale. "What should I do?" she asked. He told her that whatever she did, she was not to her father because it would kill him.

This lady said she cried and prayed and was so sorry she had agreed to take care of the birds. But the next morning she had the window open and the bird flew in and landed on the cage! She quickly shut the window and called Pasquale. She was crying and hysterical and told him to come right over.

I swear to you, I heard this lady tell her friend Betty that story while Bob and I were eating dinner at our favorite restaurant. Scout's Honor, it's a true story. When the two ladies got ready to leave I smiled at the woman who had told the story. I was so happy for her. It was like she had told her story to both me and her friend. I wanted to give her a big hug and tell her that my name was also Betty.