A near tragedy

Marco scared us half to death yesterday afternoon. We're still slightly traumatized by the ordeal. 

Gregg was busy doing chores around the house and forgot Marco was riding around on his shoulder. Without thinking, he stepped outside and Marco immediately flew off over our neighbor's garage. Gregg watched in helpless horror as a giant hawk swooped down towards Marco, and then he heard Marco scream. He couldn't see what had happened, but he did see the hawk fly off empty-handed. We ran over to the neighbor's house and started looking around their yard, just sure we'd find him dead on the ground somewhere.

There was no sign of him, but we kept looking and looking and calling his name. We were almost on the verge of giving up in despair when we started hearing a tiny voice saying, "Hey baby" over and over. Marco was hiding deep in the middle of a shrub, scared to death but unhurt. I had already started to sob, and I wasn't able to stop shaking for a good hour afterwards.

Marco is 19 years old and we've had him since he was a six-month-old baby. We felt like we'd almost lost our child. Today I've been so grateful that he's still here with us, safe and sound. Gregg is determined to break the habit of letting Marco cruise around on his shoulder, especially on the porch. It's too easy to forget he's there and a split second is all it takes if you step outside the door with him. 

I'm so grateful this story had a happy ending.

Shortly afterwards, home safe.