THE SHOEBOX

Sitting among friends the other day, I thought of a story to share. I began to tell about the shoebox.
It rested on the floor underneath a dining room chair, one we rarely used. It sat in a corner, to the right of the china closet. We only used the dining room for special occasions, perhaps on a holiday or maybe having a celebration among family and friends. As we gathered at the table, those close to the chair in the corner would usually ask what was in the faded orange shoebox. We said someone must have left some shoes here, that one day the owner would claim the box. One diner would comment about looking into the box after we ate, but as the conversation moved onto other topics, the shoebox was soon forgotten.
That faded orange shoebox stayed there a couple of years. We would dust around it, sweep around it and mop around it, but never moved the box. The plan was always there, to toss it after a chore was completed or a meal was over, but life does get busy, running from one thing to the next. A shoebox under the chair did not seem to be of major concern.
As I passed by our dining room one day, the box caught my eye. I was not running to get anywhere. It was time, I said to myself, to get rid of it. I would save the box for a school project and give the shoes to a thrift store.
I opened the lid, letting out a small cry of surprise. Inside was the deceased parakeet of my daughter, still displaying all of its bright green and yellow feathers, looking as if it only passed away only yesterday, no aroma seeping out of the cardboard. I proceeded to laugh until my stomach hurt.
That evening, I brought the box out to say I finally removed it from under the dining room chair. They were most anxious to see whose shoes were inside. There were screams of laughter as I removed the lid and they peered into the box.
I am sure at the time this little bird, named Woody, passed away, my daughter asked for a shoebox so we could give him a proper burial. After placing him in the box, none of us could remember why Woody ended up on the floor in the dining room rather than in the garden.
Other parakeets have come and gone since Woody. They all have joined him in a final resting place in the garden. Now, we never fail to have the ceremony on the day each of them has passed away.