The following is a story that I hope to someday tell my grandchildren. I want it to serve as a means of instilling in them the courage and dexterity that I have somehow found within myself to make it through this wonderful and sometimes very painful journey.
             Once upon a time, high, high up in a tree, there was a bird's nest and in that nest there was a special, little egg . The mother bird worried and fussed and fussed and worried over her little egg, saying, "Oh my, this little egg cannot possibly be big enough for my baby bird."
             Finally, the mother bird's wait and worry over the little egg came to an end and her baby hatched. Unfortunately, the egg had
             indeed been far too small for her baby bird; the little bird was terribly sick from not having enough room to grow. Not sure how to care for the little one, which they named Polly, the mother bird and father bird took their new baby to the Great Owl . Thanks to the Great Owl's wisdom and patience, the little bird lived, but, despite his tender care, Polly's wings would not grow.
             The mother bird refused to believe that her darling baby, that she had worried and waited for, for so long, would never fly. As Polly grew, her mother worked with her everyday, in hopes of teaching her daughter to fly. Eventually, their hard work paid off and, although she was a little slow and awkward, Polly finally learned to fly.
             As she grew bigger and surer of herself, Polly wished to play with the other birds her age. She tried to fly and play with them, but they did not want her in their games. They teased and mocked her and said she was too slow. Polly wished the other birds understood how hard she had had to work, just to be able to fly at all. But that did not matter to the other birds; they only wanted the strongest, fastest birds for their games . So, Polly went home, heartbroken, and made up her own games to play.
             When it came time for all the young birds t...