Hubby and I will be taking a mini vacation to Massachusetts this long weekend. It had been planned even before we knew of our pet parrot's impending death. I guess it's good to leave the house for a while, so as not to feel the brunt of the loss. But I am still grieving a lot. Hours go by when I'm fine, but the grief comes in waves. This would all be slightly different if he was an old bird, but being a young bird we can't help but feel we did something wrong. And yet one can't protect others from unknown risks. We have had pet parrots for over 17 years, with no similar incident. We can't for a million years know how/where he was poisoned with lead. We almost fear his cage itself might have been the culprit, but it is an expensive nice cage. Would they really hard glaze the thing with lead paint? Or was it him chewing on the trim around the closet? But didn't they outlaw lead paint years before our house was even built. We just don't know, but adopting a new bird with these scared sad feelings is not an option.