Pieces of Theron: Oscer

When Theron was 9 he showed a deep interest in birds. He began simply, putting breadcrumbs on the back stoop to spend time watching them closely. Countless weekend mornings passed studying them, learning the appearance and cries of a great deal of Ohio’s native species. We set up a festival of bird seed and a variety of feeders: a house bird feeder, a nectar feeder for hummingbirds and a thistle feeder for finches, courtesy of a family friend. Older and wiser now, Theron was permitted to occasionally care for his preschool teacher’s parakeet. Every moment spent with that bird fueled his begging for a parrot.

In August of 2012, against most of the family’s wishes, one of his parents (his dad) caved to Theron’s stubborn sweetness and took him to pick up a new green friend: a Quaker parrot that he named Oscer. His initial misspelling of “Oscar” stuck. Theron loved him dearly and Oscer showed that same affection to Theron, and only Theron. Oscer learned many words and mimicked sounds like the zipper on a coat, even mocking us when we would laugh.  Theron would often be found spending downtime lying on his bedroom floor while Oscer climbed all over him, or played with “toys” on the floor. When we would take vacations and have someone care for Oscer, Theron left detailed notes that were overwhelming, but left no doubt about exactly what to do and when.