Getty Owl Foundation

Attack of the Owls

From Kate:

Since Getty was born and have graced us with her beautiful blue eyes and soulful demeanor, we have called her our little owl. Like good owl parents we taught our little one to “hoot” and that is about it in the owl department. Pretty much everything else in the raptor species can be pretty gruesome, so we chose to keep it lite and focus on the cuteness of owls. It also seemed to us that after Getty was born and after she was given this nickname, owls just seemed to appear out of no where. Not real ones of course, but owls seemed to become the trend in clothing, home decor, etc. I was often struck by how I would be away from Getty and I would be reminded of her by some random owl image. It was if she was telling me, “hello” or rather, “come home mom.”

I don’t get out much for obvious reasons, so I do not know what other stores offer by way of owl items, but I can tell you what Target’s inventory looks like and it is enough to drive a mom insane. 🙂

Target is roughly 1/4 mile away from our house and it is the go to place for really all things, now that they sell food. Mark or I will run in and get what we need and not spend too much time to wander around.

It has been nice on a couple of occasions to just walk the isles and just “check out”. I am not really looking for anything in particular but the place smells good, there is usually music blaring from the entertainment department and I can usually count on an occasional kid pleading with their parent about “needing” a toy of some kind  All of this gives me a chance to slow down and take in all that Target has to offer. However, the other day something started to dawn on me that I had not realized before. Target has become an owlery (def: An abode or a haunt of owls)

I will say this much, I know that Halloween is coming up and I do understand that an owl is a perfectly good icon in regards to haunting and ghoulish things, but come on, cut a mom some slack.

And this isn’t even half of it. There are Kleenex boxes, salt and pepper shakers, lamps, pillows, knit hats, soap and sheets. Too be a fly on the wall as I walk through the isles of this store would be probably pretty funny. I have caught myself saying, “ahhh so cute. Oh Getty NEEDS this! Are you kidding?”

So sad really. The sheer will not to buy any owl is literally impossible. The amount of owls in our house is astounding but comforting at the same time. In a way it is kind of like the way we view the machines in our house that are for Getty in the house. They are here but we don’t even notice them anymore. Same with all the owls in the house. Two weeks ago we  had the Apria Respiratory Therapist come in to monitor Getty’s bi-pap hours and he even made a mention about how we, “must love owls.” Funny, I hadn’t noticed it to the severity that he was implying.

I know the temptation is there to gather every owl I possible can to add to our collection, but we do practice restraint when needed. I just find it funny that our “convenient” Target around the corner is my biggest owl trap. 🙂

There is an owl in every room. I like being greeted in every room by a reminder that our own sweet little owl is just a couple rooms away. And even if it is tempting, it is a really nice reminder that even though Getty may not be right by me in the store, she is in my heart and within less than a mile away.

There are days when I am at Target that I long to bring her there, if not just for the sole purpose of having her play with the toys or touch the clothes or in the very least sit in the cart and journey with me up and down the isles.  I do have moments of envy when I watch other kids strolling around with their mommies. In my head I think, “it’s not fair, and in my heart I think, “it’s not fair.” But after I check out and I get in the car and wipe away a few tears, I instantly smile because I know who is waiting for me at home. A beautiful smile and a squeal from my very own little owl.