Delores Blasco, 85, coos to a pair of Golden Conures, some of the birds that Cedar Hill Birds owner Alycia Antheunisse shared to fulfill a bucket list wish at Somerford Place. Blasco and Kimi Mayeda, 93, both are bird lovers and Alzheimer Program Diretor Chelease Adams arranged for the birds' visit on Tuesday. LORI GILBERTExotic birds elicit memories and bring wonderSTOCKTON — Delores “Lori” Blasco sat with two golden conures on her lap, softly singing “You Are My Sunshine” to them.
They two birds definitely brightened the day of Blasco and Kimi Mayeda, along with fellow residents of Somerford Place, an assisted living facility in north Stockton.
The parrots and other birds visited the facility on Tuesday as a bucket-list wish of Blasco, 85, and Mayeda, 93. Blasco and her late husband once had a parrot that she loved, and Mayeda, a longtime nurse in San Francisco, enjoyed bird watching.
Seeing the exotic birds was a treat arranged by Chelease Adams, Somerford’s Alzheimer’s program director who periodically arranges events that remind residents of past aspects of their lives.
Alycia Antheunisse, who, with her husband, Eric, owns Lodi’s Cedar Hill Birds, brought her blue hyacinth macaw, Sara, her green Amazon or mealy parrot, Paco, and a moluccan cockatoo named Mango.
A couple of fellow bird lovers, Eric Carpenter and Nick Pedergrass, brought their own fine feathered friends, a green wing macaw, Sisko, and two conures, a dusky green conure and a sun conure.
The birds squawked and danced and delighted the residents, but were never ruffled, so to speak, by the crowd.
“I spend a lot of time with these guys, so they’re well socialized,” Antheunisse said. “They’re used to a lot of different sounds and environments.”
The residents marveled at their colors, their sizes and their playfulness.
“I can tell people about this, but unless they saw this, they wouldn’t believe it,” Blasco said.
The birds, particularly the bright green Amazon, stirred memories of her own pet.
“We had a parrot that was bilingual,” Blasco said. “My husband was a Spaniard. (The parrot) spoke a couple Spanish words and a couple English words.”
Its name was Parakito.
Mayeda thought she might have owned a small bird at one time, but most of her bird watching was done with fellow birders who took bus trips to see them.
“It was one of my favorite things to do,” Mayeda said. “I haven’t done it for a while now, but when I was younger I used to love to do that.”
She never saw parrots, except in zoos, and was delighted by them.
“I like the colors,” Mayeda said. “I think they’re a beauty to watch. I love their antics. They perform for people.”
The birds' wings have been clipped to keep them safe, Antheunisse said, so they didn’t fly, but Sisko turned upside down on Pendergrass’s finger. Mango nestled comfortably onto a woman’s lap and the conures sat with different people, nibbling their buttons, their jewelry, even their hair.
And the majestic blue Sara, who is 15, and the brilliant green Paco, who is 50, stuck close to Antheunisse and enjoyed being the center of attention.
They speak, their owner said, but only when they feel like it. Sara is the star of a Youtube video in which she claims “Birds don’t talk.”
She was mum on Tuesday, but she was entertaining, whether cocking her head and appearing to ponder every question asked of Antheunisse, or simply bouncing up and down as though dancing to music.
Mostly, she made Blasco and Mayeda remember those happy times of being with birds.