Rumson family hopes to see the return of Jake

Jake

My pet cockatiel, Jake, escaped back in mid-July. He remained in the canopy of the tallest trees for two days and nights signaling to family members, but he wasn’t ready to come down. On the third day when I went tutoring, Jake received no response to his calls, and he started to leave the immediate area.

We are a family of five, and we walked the town of Rumson for six weeks whistling and signaling. We knew that within weeks of his escape, Jake would land on someone’s head for help. You see, Jake is very special and he will live for 35 years. For three of those years we have loved him, interacted with him, spoiled him with attention, and trained him to speak, sing and dance. He is gray in color with a white head and white markings on his wings. He is well-known to the schoolchildren at Deane-Porter in Rumson where I teach, as he would visit often.

When school began in September, I stopped walking the streets in search of Jake because we were told that during the summer, a cockatiel had landed on a man’s head at Monmouth Park Race Track, Oceanport, and that the bird walked from shoulder-to-shoulder talking to the man for one hour. The man took him home and named him. Well, that kind person does not know that I lost my very special pet, so he cannot contact me. It may or may not be Jake, but it sure does sound like his behavior.

If you have heard this story or possibly another, please contact the Fallon family at (732) 842-2971. We live at 10 Park Ave., Rumson. I cannot express in writing the emptiness my family feels. When I am asked about him, I struggle to hide my tears. Since school started, I have tried to keep busy and turn my thoughts away from him. It hits me and my daughter in the middle of the night, a time when you can’t control subconscious thoughts, and I say out of nowhere, "I want my birdie back."

Christmas was particularly difficult because Jake’s stocking surfaced from the ornament box. I put it on the fireplace because I still have hope. I believe in people helping people, and good things come to people who do.

Sharon S. Fallon

Rumson