Happy Draw a Bird Day

Happy Draw A Bird Day! This special holiday is in memory of a special girl, Dorie Cooper. To try and cheer up her uncle, who was in an English hospital after being injured in WWII, Dorie asked him to draw her a bird. He drew a picture of a robin (which wouldn't be the robin we'd think of in the US, this is an English robin), which Dorie laughingly told him wasn't very good, but she would hang it up in her room anyway. Her honesty and cheerfulness encouraged her uncle and every time Dorie came to visit, he and the other wounded soldiers had bird drawing contests. 

Sadly, Dorie died at a very young age. She was struck and killed by a car at age 10, just three years after starting the bird drawing contests with her uncle. Soldiers, nurses and doctors from the ward her uncle had been in filled Dorie's coffin with drawings of birds. Dorie is now remembered by those she touched on her birthday, April 8th. They honor her memory by drawing birds. 

I was deeply struck by this story. What Dorie started was so simple, but it made such a difference in the lives of so many. 

I celebrated Draw A Bird Day by drawing a burrowing owl in the journal, 642 Things to Draw, that I share with my sister. I love owls - they're beautiful birds! 

Did you draw a bird for Draw A Bird Day? If you did, please share it with DABDAY.com!