The dead bird just about did me in.

It was my last straw.

My husband had been absent from our home in the northern plains for four months already, and while he was not scheduled for a homebound flight exactly, he was expecting to return home within two weeks. It was one of those “hurry up and wait” situations: be ready to leave at any time, but we don’t have room for you yet on any transport flights.

The end was in sight.

So was the dead robin outside my oldest daughter’s window.

Now…everyone who knows me knows how squeamish I am. I have freaked out at anything dead in my home, be it a mouse in a trap, a spider, or even dead flies. Eew.

So, when we saw the dead bird outside her second-story window on the overhand above our living room window, it was one of those Eew moments.

Eew.

(I was reminded of that line from that quintessential 80s movie The Goonies, when Chunk whispers, “Dead things, Mikey, dead things!”)

The next question was, How was I ever going to get that bird off the overhang so I could throw it away?

Pop the screen off the window, I thought. Then I could use the plastic bag-covered broom handle, push it down, and then put the screen back. Easy.

Voila, dead bird on the ground.

Notice the lovely bee eating the neck off the bird? Yeah. I had to fend it off to pick up the dead thing.

So I did.

Birdie, sans buzzing living neck ornament, was carried off to the dumpster without further delay!

All was okay until I couldn’t get the screen back on. I tried and tried, smashing my fingertips and getting black screen ick all over my hands. I was so frustrated I began to cry!

I’d also broken my daughter’s flimsy and icky window shade. We were going to replace it anyway, but still! To break it when she had no screen was just bad icing on top of a really bad cake.

I wish I could sit here months later, now that the screen is fixed and the new shade installed (both by Chaplain Hubby after he came safely home), and tell you that I handled this whole incident well. Unfortunately, I cannot. I remember this day as being the one of the Great Meltdown of Deployment 2007. I had driven my girls all over the Midwest all summer, attended my 20th high school reunion alone, dealt with a broken-down vehicle of my own AND my mother’s, handled everything myself as well as I could, and lost a friend to cancer.

I learned some things: Life goes on whether our husbands are home or not. Something WILL break while he’s away (during this most recent TDY it was the garage door!). AAA is invaluable (even if only for the security of free towing and fun stuff like free maps). Most importantly, however, I learned that God is always with me. He held us all in His mighty hand.

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