# R.I.P Gina



## my_gina (Feb 4, 2006)

i really feel like i did nothing....for gina has died. i cant believe this as happened. i had her for 6 years and no i have her no more. she really was my everything, and now that i could of done nothing, she has left.  iam just happy if now she has no suffering. but now all i can say is R.I.P Gina


but i would like to thank you all...i wish i got your answrs faster but my internet was not working to get to the site. but THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH you guys did alot with advice and want to help so much thank you.i really love this site..and iam still going to come back..


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

I'm very sorry for the loss of your beloved Gina. I hope her passing was quick and pain free.

Terry


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## kittypaws (Sep 18, 2005)

I too am sorry to hear of the passing of Gina - you must be devastated after she shared her life with you for 6 years.

You have 6 years of precious memories and nobody can take that away from you - Gina was one lucky pigeon.

Please stay in touch with us ( which you say you will do) and once again very sorry to hear about your sad loss.

Tania x


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## TerriB (Nov 16, 2003)

I am so sorry for the grief you are feeling at the loss of your beloved pet, Gina. Six years is a long time to know a little creature so well. Take care of yourself and come back to visit often.


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## my_gina (Feb 4, 2006)

*thank you<3*

thank you...yes 6 years is long...and i have many memories of her...since she was a baby...when she first flew.and we had to feed her...but most when she came back when she was gone for 10 days with a broken wing .....i know i wont EVER forget her..


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

I'm so sorry to hear Gina passed. It has to be absolutely devistating after having a bird for six years. Those that we spend so much time with are particularly hard to give up. We see their presence everywhere.

Please be comforted that she is now at peace and flying in the spirit. Time will heal and lessen the hurt.

Sending you prayers to comfort you, and a BIG group HUG from all of us.


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## Pigeonpal2002 (Jul 27, 2002)

I'm terribly sorry to read that your little Gina has passed away Sometimes these things progress so fast that there is really little you could have done. It sounds like whatever happened to Gina, happened quickly and nothing may have made a difference. 

She was obviously very much loved and she died in caring hands. This is all any of us can provide our bird at such a time.


Take care,


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## mr squeaks (Apr 14, 2005)

I am sending a WARM and HEALING HUG to help ease your grief!

I'm so sorry!


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## Victor (Dec 18, 2004)

I feel sad for you loss. I am so sorry.


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## stach_n_flash (Mar 15, 2006)

how sad how long do pigoens live? i heard 20 years .. maybe someone could give you a new pigeon to maybe feel the void 

sorry you lost gina


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## my_gina (Feb 4, 2006)

aww thank you..you guys make me tearr* ....hugs back......

**** wow i dont think it really it me yet....yes i would want to get another pigeon....but i dont think i can handle it..Gina was just to much to me.to many like good times..she always set an advanger for me everyday


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## Reti (Jul 20, 2003)

I am so sorry for your loss.
Gina was a lucky pij and had a wonderful life with you. Bless you for all you did for her.

Reti


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## Feather (Dec 8, 2005)

Hello Little Care Taker of Gina,

I am so sorry about your precious Gina. She was a very special bird! I remember how wonderful and happy we all were upon her return. Where do you live? When and if you are ready for another let us know. It really does ease the grieving process. And there are so many beautiful birds that need a good home.

Feather


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## my_gina (Feb 4, 2006)

i know gina was special....she was so close to death other times. Once my dad leaving himself giving her CPR. (yea i know a man given a pigeon CPR.that just proves how much we lover her) and she began to breath again. and the other time when she flew away. but now this time it was for good but i just wished it was just like other times. where she would come back.

i want a another pigeon but now its really hard.


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## Pigeonpal2002 (Jul 27, 2002)

In time, you will get over the loss of Gina....let yourself grieve and cry over this loss. You will have another pigeon one day, it's in our blood...all of us here. When that day comes, you will be able to give love to another pigeon again.


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## Victor (Dec 18, 2004)

Gina, in time the hurt will heal, When I lost my Tooter on New Years eve, I was devistated. After the first week of trying to find him, I had given up hope and the thought of owning another pigeon was not at the top of my list, in fact I thought I was DONE with pigeons. My wife, Bev, and the group here at Pigeon life helped me through it all. In time, you will feel better. Gina will always be in your heart. You will never forget your beloved Gina, but getting another pigeon did help me.Take care.


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## alaska (Mar 17, 2005)

This is terrible news to hear that Gina has passed over. Six years is indeed a very long time to have spent with this pigeon, although I know she enjoyed being with you and loved you just a s much as you loved her.
It will hurt for a while, but then you will be left with many special memories of your times with Gina, and then quite likely another very lucky pigeon will come your way.
Kind Regards
Alaska


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## Larry_Cologne (Jul 6, 2004)

So sorry to hear about your loss of Gina. 

Some things never seem to heal completely, but maybe they do. By never seeming to heal completely, I mean that for me it seems that sometimes one forgets for a while, but the memory when it returns is still very fresh and painful. We have to remember that the good times we had are a gift, and that life is not meant to be painful and only a time to experience suffering. It is a time also for joy, and we have to see the good times of the past not as an absence in the present, but as an actual presence, a continuing source of joy. 

When we miss something we once had, are we not by definition thinking of something pleasant? And we think we won't have it again? But we are actually possessing that joy by recalling it even as we mourn. The thing that gave us pleasure, the REAL thing that gave us pleasure, exists forever.

When someone dies, it is not their body that we loved. It is someething else. We would be horrified to have the body of someone who died always with us. (And that is a popular subject for horror movies). The body was just a temporary vehicle for the thing that we REALLY loved, and that thing continues to exist. 

I was sad when we lost Pidgiepoo (after only eight months), and I often still get sad when I think of him. That is human nature. But the gifts he gave me will continue to exist long after I am gone (and long after he is gone, if by chance he is still alive somewhere). It seems love is inexhaustible, limitless, infinite, neverending, waiting only to be discovered, felt, and enjoyed. Let your sorrow turn to joy when you think of Gina. That is probably what your pet would have wanted. 

Imagine: I'm married twenty-plus years. I die. Then: every time my wife thinks of me, it's BAD TIMES. MISERY. No! I'd want her to think, okay, he had his good times, he enjoyed his life, or he should have, and this is my life and it is my time to enjoy. (Okay, maybe she can mourn a little bit. For a while. Or maybe even a bit more than a little while. I'm selfish, and it feels good for the ego if she misses me a bit. Heck, if she didn't miss me, what kind of guy was I? Of course she should miss me! I am, or was, a nice guy).

But does it sound fair for one person to have a good life, be liked by everyone, really enjoy life, die, and forever and ever afterwards everyone else has to be miserable and suffer (because of him, because they miss him)? No, they have lives to live too. Lives that were given to them as gifts. And gifts are to be enjoyed, and appreciated, and appreciation shown by gratitude for the joy one has experienced. (Maybe I'm going in circles here). 

Sometimes a little humor can alleviate sorrow. 

When I die, I think those who know me would know also that I enjoyed life (maybe not to the fullest in someone else's opinion, but certainly so in mine), and that I want them to enjoy theirs. Let's party. And rest when and where appropriate. 

May your sorrow and grieving give way to peace and joy.


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## mr squeaks (Apr 14, 2005)

Very well said, Larry! I agree with you 100%!

Your wife is a lucky/fortunate woman to have you in her life! Of course, YOU are lucky/fortunate to have HER in your life too! Love is a door that swings both ways...

I too believe that the physical body is the vehicle that houses our "essence/soul/spirit" which can never be destroyed, only released...


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## my_gina (Feb 4, 2006)

*thanks*

thankk you guyss ...i like that you guys can relate to me and tell me stories..noone else i know can really talk to me about this.


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## mr squeaks (Apr 14, 2005)

*My Gina,*

I hope the following words will help bring comfort. I do not know the authors, but I'm sure they would not mind if I post their work. I think the following are relevant for our beloved pets:


DO NOT STAND AT MY GRAVE AND WEEP

Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not there, I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow,
I am the diamond glints on the snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain,
I am the gentle autumn's rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush,
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft star that shines at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry.
_*I am not there; I did not die.*_


Within My Heart

In the days that just have faded...are the memories of you...memories that keep me company...whenever I am blue...such peaceful, joyful moments...that are lost back in the past...happy times when I was near you...times that fleeted all too fast...but thru memories great magic...I can capture once again...little fragments of sensation...that I knew away back when...and though life has deemed quite cruelly...that some day all loves must part...you are with me again dear...for you live within my heart.


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## Mistifire (May 27, 2004)

I wont be able to read this thread until I get home, no tears at work so I will catch up on it later. 

I am truly sorry for your loss. I hope your pain will ease soon and always remember every time you get a memory flash of the good times you had together that it may be Gina saying hello and letting you know that all is well.


Mr squeeks, those poems are beautiful, I would love to know the authors so that I can give credit if I use them for anything in the future.


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## my_gina (Feb 4, 2006)

those peoms really touched me..thank you so much for them they did comfort me


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## Larry_Cologne (Jul 6, 2004)

*Another Google search for a poem*

http://www.lcsheriff.org/donotstandatmygraveandweep.html 

*Do not stand at my grave and weep.*

Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not there, I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glint on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.

When you wake in the morning hush,
I am the swift, uplifting rush 
Of quiet birds in circling flight.
I am the soft starlight at night.

Do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there, I do not sleep.
(Do not stand at my grave and cry.
I am not there, I did not die! 

*Mary Frye (1932)*


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## Poulette (Feb 5, 2002)

I lost very loved birds and all the sad feelings transformed in sweet memories with time. This is hard now, you have to take care of yourself, and time will heal your heart.

Suz.


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## my_gina (Feb 4, 2006)

it takes a very long time...and it sucks...i like go crazy..esaplily at night!...i cant sleepp no moree


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

I'm so sorry to hear you are not sleeping. Please try to remember that Gina is at peace now, and is soaring high above the clouds. I pray for you that you are able to come to terms with this, because you need your rest.

I don't mean forget, just that it becomes easier, and hopefully your memories will give you more peace now.

Perhaps another pigeon might help to eas the pain?

Sending a BIG hug to you today!


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## mr squeaks (Apr 14, 2005)

I, TOO, am sending a BIG WARM HEALING HUG!!


*Larry *- thank you so much! I found that poem in one of Ann Lander's columns and the author wasn't listed. They didn't know...also, some of the words are different...

The other words are on a piece of paper I copied a loooong time ago and I don't know the author - no author listed...


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## Larry_Cologne (Jul 6, 2004)

*More Googling (for Mary Frye) Versions of "Do Not Stand at my Grave and Weep*

*http://www.magicinterludes.net/snowyowlet/farewell.html 
Also nice music accompanies the poem on this site. *


More info at
http://www.businessballs.com/donotstandatmygraveandweep.htm
do not stand at my grave and weep

*with the following excerpt: *

Mary Frye's famous inspirational poem, prayer, and bereavement verse

Almost certainly Mary Frye wrote the famous poem 'Do not stand at my grave and weep' in 1932, however uncertainty continues to surround the definitive and original wording of this remarkable verse. Originally the verse had no title, so the poem's first line, 'Do not stand at my grave and weep' naturally became the title by which the poem came to be known. Mary Elizabeth Frye (1905-2004) was a housewife from Baltimore USA, when a visiting friend's mother died, and this prompted Mary Frye to compose the verse, which she said was her first real attempt to write poetry. The friend was a young German Jewish girl called Margaret Schwarzkopf, who felt unable to visit her dying mother in Germany due to the anti-Semitic feeling at home. This led to Margaret Scwarzkopf's comment to Mary Frye, according to the apparent history of this, that she had been denied the chance to 'stand by her mother's grave and shed a tear'. This seemingly was the inspirational prompt for Mary Fry to write the verse, which has for decades now touched and comforted many thousands of people, especially at times of loss and bereavement. Mary Frye, it is said, wrote the poem on a brown paper shopping bag. Apparently in interviews since writing the poem Frye said that the 'words just came to her', and it also seems clear that she wrote her poetry to bring comfort and pleasure to others, rather than to profit from its publication.

It's fascinating that the poem came into such widespread use, and this is perhaps because it was not conventionally copyrighted and published. At some time after Margaret Schwarzkopf's mother's death, friends of the Schwarzkopf family arranged for a postcard to be printed featuring the poem, and this, with the tendency for the verse to be passed from person to person, created a 'virtual publishing' effect far greater than traditional printed publishing would normally achieve. The poem, in its various 'original' forms has for many years been firmly in the public domain.

For many years (and presently still among many people) the poem's origin was generally unknown, being variously attributed to native American Indians, traditional folklore, and other particular claimant writers. The poem has appeared, and continues to, in slightly different versions, and there are examples also of modern authors adding and interweaving their own new lines and verses within Eyre's work, which adds to confusion about the poem's definitive versions and origins.

Whatever, the mystery seems first to have been solved when the poem was categorically attributed to Mary Frye in 1998, following research by Abigail Van Buren, aka Jeanne Phillips, a widely syndicated American newspaper columnist, whose 'Dear Abby' column seems to have directly communicated with Mary Frye concerning original authorship of the poem.

According to various sources (notably the CBC radio and TV station in Canada, whose presenter Kelly Ryan broadcast a radio feature called 'Poetic Journey' on 10 May 2000, telling the story of Mary Frye's poem) there are various 'definitive' versions.

This is the version of Frye's poem which featured on the postcard that was printed by friends of Margaret Schwarzkopf's parents. It was untitled:


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## Feather (Dec 8, 2005)

Larry,

That was beautiful!

Thank you very much! You seem to always have the healing words or story, and now poem, to soothe a discouraged soul.

Feather


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## my_gina (Feb 4, 2006)

i dont think i coulg get another pigeon thou..will tthat helpp but to me i think that would make it worse for me


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## Larry_Cologne (Jul 6, 2004)

*Feather and Gina*

*Feather*,

Thanks for the kind words. The poem was first posted by mr. squeaks, who didnt know the authors of the two items he posted. I merely did some Googling to see how hard it would be to find the author or provenance. There were several websites or weblinks for the first poem. So far no luck wth the second item.

I have had a rough two hours trying to find, among other things, total train group fare prices for Cologne to Hamburg a week from now. So many details to fill in first. Then public transportation or streetcar fares and direcions and timetables for a hard to locate address for a high school Saturday art class (for my wife) not too far away. Takes an hour to find out about a 26-minute trip. It's like working jigsaw and crossword puzzles: sometimes fun, sometimes frustrating. 

*Gina*, 

Maybe you don't have to actively search for a pigeon. Sometimes they just come along. There was a tip on a bird-watching website: the author said that when you do birdwatching, birds seem to pop out of the scenery. I have heard that pregnant women notice other pregnant women everywhere (besides at the gynecologist's or pediatrician's or prenatal care). Apple laptop owners notice other Apple laptop carriers. Gary Larson had a cartoon of dogs driving a car through the downtown of a city being destroyed by nukes, and the dogs were only noticing other drive-by dogs.

Pigeons seem to come our way when we are open to them. I found a golf-ball-size land *snail* the other day, perhaps planning to cross a busy sidewalk and street, or else a large expanse of grass used by soccer-playing kids. I brought it home to observe a bit, until my wife insisted I liberate it because she was sure it wanted to feel the breeze (on its shell?). 

Our eight-month-old rescued and hand-raised male pigeon *Wieteke* and his feral mate *Mamieke* lost their first two baby chicks yesterday (Wednesday, May 26th). The first chick may have died the afternoon of the day before yesterday; we are not sure. They had a nest in a pet carrier on the wardrobe next to our bed (eight feet from my head). I suspect paratyphoid or salmonellosis. One of the parents had unusual poops (I think the mother). One was born probably last Friday, and the other perhaps Saturday. (I don't know precisely when they were born or died because we were out a bit, and we did not want to overly intrude on the wild female. *Wieteke* was very quiet and seemed very sad yesterday and the evening before. I heard peeps and feeding sounds yesterday morning, and took a quick look at midday when Wieteke took an eggshell outside and saw and removed the first dead baby. Hilde said it was already beginning to smell. The other seemd okay. I thought perhaps the first might have suffocated. Then later, at 5 P.M. I checked and saw that the second baby had just died. The female sat on the nest and tried to revive the second dead baby for a couple of hours. It was a sad day for them. 

Wieteke has been trying to persuade Mamieke to again use the first nesting box, on a different wardrobe, where they had sat twenty-two days on their first, unfertilized egg. 

They were such caring and attentive parents. 

After the deaths, I kept myself very busy for a few hours observing and taking notes of their activities, because I wasn't sure if she would want to hang around a place that might seem full of misfortune to her.


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## mr squeaks (Apr 14, 2005)

I am sooo sorry to hear about the baby deaths! The poems seem to be doing heavy duty!

For all your research...one word, full of meaning: THANKS !!


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## christina11 (Jan 20, 2006)

I feel realy sorry for you having to go threw this i mean i know excacly how you feel and how much pain it puts in a persons life you see i raised a pigeon from a baby her name was todum i found her walking towards traffic so i picked her up and took her home seeing no other pigeons around.She grew and flew beside me when i delivered mail and always cood for me i even put a bit of blue on her just incase i lost her lol but most ppl thought i did it for looks.Anyway she grew up into a wounderful looking pigeon with purple on her neck that sparkled in the sun.
Untill....

One day me and my family went out for a drive in the country i left todum behind outside in her cage.It was a bad storm that day and we could not go home faster dew to traffic and hard rain i was in tears praying todum would be safe when i came home.So finaly i woke up from the long drive home and jumped out the car to todum only to find her feathers and blood and right below my feet almost touching me a racoon.I screamed in tears and ran away from the racoon for what he had done my parents came to me seeing the mess it was the most horrible thing that i ever seen.

I could not belive the racoon did that after i set him free from a trap some time ago feeling sorry for him and not knowing racoons eat pigeons.I cryed for nights not wanting to have pigeons or other birds ever again as long as i lived but i knew that would be foolish with there so many birds in need of help on this earth so after some weeks of pain i finaly decided to go on i got some new pigeons and continued helping other birds.Now i have been threw lots of bird deaths but i still go on because there is always a chance for a new life on this earth but i have gotten more braver on the deaths knowing i did what i could and gave it all my best and learned from mistakes but i always have a tear for every creature that passes and burry them in peace.

So i know how you feel losing a beloved friend after all you been threw but in time we all get over it but never forget the moments in our hearts i pray you will be ok and move on trust me there is another feathered friend out there for you that will want your love and care since you do that so well.
Here is a poem that i love it gives hope and faith for your lost pets i hope you like it as much as i do.
http://nuzzled.net/rainbow_bridge.html


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## Maggie-NC (Jun 22, 2005)

Christina, I REALLY like you! You are a kind, sweet person.


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## Lin Hansen (Jan 9, 2004)

Christina,

I love that story of the Rainbow Bridge....I never get tired of reading it and it never fails to bring a tear or two.

Thanks
Linda


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## christina11 (Jan 20, 2006)

Thanks.

Im glad it touched you as much as it touched me of all the poems for the pass of a pet id have to say that is my favourite.


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## my_gina (Feb 4, 2006)

*oh may*

oh my goodneesss i am so sorry for hearing that, that is harder, just to see it happen ...iam so sorry for your lost and thank you for your comfort

I HATE RACCONSS!!!! BIG TIMEE!!!


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