It reminded me of the movie Penguin Bloom, in that a bird was instrumental is helping people slog through grief. But the starling that dive bombed Lilly was an adversary, as opposed to the magpie that became a pet to the Bloom family. 

 

The Starling portrays a marriage that is cleaved by the death of their child. Cleave is one of those enigmatic words that contradicts itself. Divide, and bring together. The small black bird manages to do both. 

 

Lilly and Jack paint the bedroom of their darling baby with a tree whose branches reach high and roots burrow deep into the soil. But after she dies Jack is hospitalized with depression, leaving Lilly to tame the unkempt lawn, and drive an hour each way to visit him. 

 

A year is a long time to suffer. Yet the very word is embedded in the meaning of patience. Which are what patients are asked to have, while they suffer. 

 

There are many forces that yank us apart. I am grateful for stories about marriages that hold fast.