That Time I Walked Through My Neighborhood Holding An Empty Shoebox & Sobbing

Alternatively titled: hormones are a real thing, and nature is cruel.

It's midweek and though there are lots of great, substantive posts I'd like to share, I'm going to tell you a little story instead. 

One day when I was about 6 months pregnant with Carrington, I decided to take Layla for a walk around our neighborhood. It was a beautiful day and I was in such a good mood. So there we went, my bump, my dog, and myself walking (waddling) around the loop. As we turned the corner onto the street behind ours, I saw a bird that seemed to be sitting very still on a driveway. It almost looked like it was laying down, but it was flapping it's wings and moving very slowly across the driveway. My chest tightened and my stomach flipped as I squinted my eyes and moved a little closer to get a better look, when all of the sudden this GIANT black crow came swooping down and began pecking this bird to death, clearly finishing what he had already started. 

THIS WOULD ONLY HAPPEN TO ME.

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a huge animal lover -- animals of all sizes and kinds -- and very sensitive to them and their wellbeing. And there I was, trying to enjoy a walk on a sunny day, when I was a witness to a brutal murder. I immediately started muttering to myself "Oh my God, oh my God, what do I do?" and I charged at the crow with Layla. The crow spread its large wings and lifted itself up onto the roof of the house right above its victim, momentarily. I turned around and started RUNNING home with my golden retriever and my big belly, and when I got inside I did what any sane grown woman would do: I grabbed my phone and called my husband at work, all while crying hysterically. After Steve determined that his wife and unborn child were, in fact, alive and well, he calmly told me to grab an empty shoebox and a work glove and I could go back for the bird... I could gently lift it into the box and save it. I could save its life.

So that's what I did. I found an empty shoebox as fast as I could and waddle-ran my way back around the corner to the bird with tears flying out of my eyes; I felt like I had a superhero cape on my back. I WILL SAVE YOU, BIRD.

When I got there... well. Let's just say all that was left were some feathers.

GUYS. I have never cried so hard. I turned around slowly, defeated, and walked back through my neighborhood, holding my empty shoebox and just absolutely sobbing. 

So if you lived in NJ in 2013 and happened to see a pregnant lady walking around your neighborhood with an empty shoebox crying her heart out... it was me. It was me.

There is no real point of this story other than 1. Hormones are SO real -- and pregnancy hormones will 100% turn you into a blubbering fool (and let's not even talk about post-pregnancy hormones), 2. Although let's be real, I probably would have had the same exact reaction not pregnant, and 3. Nature is cruel.

Has anything like this ever happened to you, or am I really the only one? Don't answer that. ;)