The Personable Bluejay

The Personable Touch of a Bluejay

At a time when the whole world was falling into a state of panic and uncertainty, naturally people look for answers or a sign from some greater power that will tell you it's all going to be okay. The pandemic hit during my senior year of college which you can imagine wasn't easy. Since my parents were considered high risk, going home was not an option for me beca

use I didn't want to risk giving them any of my college germs. The first week of lockdown, I was sitting in my boyfriend's backyard talking about how crazy it all was. Being raised in a religious household, I did what I knew best and I said a prayer asking for a sign if everyone close to me would be okay. You guessed it, I asked to see a blue jay for affirmation. The rest of the day, no blue jays. Then the next day, I get a phone call that my boyfriend's mom wasn't feeling well and had to get tested. Her results came back negative, but still no blue jays. A week later, my boyfriend's brother tests positive. At this point, I accepted that I didn’t see the blue jay I’d prayed for because someone in my ‘circle’ had tested positive and started to lose faith that it would only get worse. While the pandemic only got worse and most people weren’t as lucky, my family and friends were still healthy and safe but still no blue jays. Until about two months after my initial prayer, I finally saw my mom for the first time in almost three months. As we’re sitting on my college’s campus, a blue jay lands 10 feet from where we were sitting. For the next several months, I would see a blue jay once a week in places I’d never seen them before and those closest to me remained healthy. Almost exactly a year later, a friend of mine was tragically shot and killed. It was the kind of grief you can’t comprehend or put into words. Once I cried all that I could trying to comprehend the fact a guy I’d known since I was 3 years old was gone, I resorted to prayer again. Once again, looking for answers or a sign. Except this time all I wanted was to know he was in a better place. The next morning, I was sitting at the kitchen table with my mom telling her about the Etsy business I wanted to start and that I’d name it “To ME It’s Personal’ because it was the best I could think of. I didn’t love the name, but I wanted to do personalized pieces and my initials are ME so it worked. As we’re talking about the ‘good enough’ name, a blue jay landed on the tree branch behind my mom. A rush of emotions all at once, I knew the name of my business needed to be about blue jays and that my late friend was in a better place. With the start of this business, I hope to bring that personable touch I feel when a blue jay lands nearby. Thank you for taking the time to read about my shop and I hope that you find something with the personable touch for yourself, or someone in your life.