The little bird gets dropped out of its’ nest and starts the search for his mother, asking dogs & tractors, “are you mother?” and with each question, the answer is always a “no”. The story ends on a happy note…the little bird finds his mother but for some reason, I never ended the story with a feeling of happiness. I felt sad.

I don’t think I ever understood why I felt that way until this morning, when while waiting for my flight to Chicago, I came across a bookstore rack filled with Dr. Seuss books. This one popped out at me immediately and again, sadness. I started to think. The concept of finding someone, surely it seems that looking for something means finding something physical, something that you can touch. But just because something is tangible, doesn’t mean it’s actually there…doesn’t mean you’ve actually found it. 

I think that’s what I felt for the little bird.. the sense that it found what it lost but what it was looking for wasn’t there. The mother, although physically present, wasn’t emotionally and therefore the search seemed pointless because if the mother really cared to begin with, it wouldn’t have lost the little bird at all. And it certainly would have been searching for it.

It’s a strange way to think about it but it makes sense to me…I’m glad I can understand why I always felt sadness for the little bird. I hope, now, it has connected with it’s Mother and feels like it doesn’t have to search anymore.