This is a story told by a New Orleans resident at a local event called Bring Your Own. It is a live storytelling pop-up series that takes place in living rooms, backyards and other intimate spaces within the community. Each month, seven storytellers have 7 minutes to respond to a theme with live, unscripted, true stories.
This story was told on July 10, 2012 by local photographer Aubrey Edwards in her own home, and later produced by NOLA resident Jesse Chanin. The theme of the evening was "Wild Animals," and Aubrey (the host of that evening) told a story about saving a helpless creature in the midst of her darkest hour.
Virginia, the "helpless creature" she found biking to work, has since passed, but Aubrey now consistently finds and is given injured wild birds that she cares for and releases, and is currently training for her wildlife rehabilitator's certification.
*Bring Your Own is a production of Laine Kaplan-Levenson, Liam Daniel Pierce, and Nina Feldman. Here more stories from BYO at bringyourownstories.com.