Gina

For those that know me somewhat, you should already know that my family is anything but average, and at best one could conclude it's slightly controversial.
Actually, to be precise, that is only my father's side...people on my mother's side are just damaged in ordinary ways.
I was remembering something from my childhood and telling this story to somebody recently and they found it slightly unbelievable but I swear that every word of it is true, to the best of my knowledge.
Studies of memory recognise the period between 0- 5 yrs old as childhood amnesia and there is a tiny possibility that I have slightly altered certain details but I remember this much... And, of course, there are stories by other witnesses to confirm this too.
So here goes.

My grandfather was a remarkable man. He was a Sagittarian and he had this unusual passion for life and all that defies the ordinary existence.

This was regarded as highly controversial back then and mostly drove my grandma to distraction. I like to think that she loved him to such depths that, although she was often embarrassed by his tactics, she was smiling on the inside and forgave him all that he was because of what he was...if that makes sense.

When I was little...I don't remember how but my granddad managed to domesticate a magpie. Later in life, I remember him having the three regular sparrows that he fed, which were rather friendly and hang around a lot, so I am guessing that it started with him feeding her and making her feel that life with him could be safe, comfortable and above all else...fun.
After a while, the magpie got more daring and they became inseparable. He named her Gina.

If the stories told are to be believed at all, Gina soon went as far as sitting on his shoulder and hanging around him all the time.
She must have had a nest on one of the apricot trees in the garden and my granddad protected it by tying thorny stalks from the rose bush around the tree to stop the feral cats getting to Gina's nest.
I don't quite know how long did their affair last, but it was well known that my granddad adored Gina. She was unusual, quirky and highly impetuous. Above all else, she shared his passion for going against the norm, investing in a relationship that is highly divisive.

However, this story does not end happily.

As with all domesticated animals...they tend to enter relaxed existence, they feel protected, sheltered and become less able to spot dangers around them and this came to be Gina's demise.
That cat finally got her...I am not sure how and where, if it managed to outsmart granddad's invention of thorns, or it plainly sat in wait for Gina, anguished by Gina's audacity and fuelled by witnessing Gina's privileges.
This broke my granddads heart.
He despised cats ever since.