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Colista Marie McCabe Bird. On January 9 a life of beauty, courage and love ended. Colista Marie McCabe Bird, wife of the late John Aaron Bird, died in the embrace of her children John, Sarah, Martha, Tom, Steve and Kay. She was loved by her children-in-law, Jennifer Bird, George Jones, Brooke Tully, Ruth Ellen Thomson, and Dan Swiss and her grandchildren, Gabriel, Aaron, Colista Rose, and Davita. Born to an Indiana farm family in 1920, Colista's favorite saying was Machts nicht, "Don't sweat the small stuff." Her quiet courage carried her through her father's death when she was 17, into nurse's training, and onto a troop ship bound for WWII. From Casablanca, through the Invasion of Sicily, into Aix en Provence, Mac nursed soldiers, sang with a band, washed her hair in a combat helmet, and double-dated with Audie Murphy. Colista married John, the handsome, funny, fearless aviator she met at a barn dance in North Africa. As an Air Force wife, Collie B. was the nest her six Bird children nestled in through all the moves: Tucson, Wichita Falls, Boise, Sacramento, Japan, Harlingen, San Antonio, Albuquerque, Okinawa. Mom had a magical ability to transform packing crates into wading pools, sweat suits into doggie costumes, and scary new places into homes filled with love and laughter. Colista re-entered nursing in 1968 at Kadena Elementary School in Okinawa and after John's retirement to Albuquerque in 1970, Nurse Bird joined UNM's Student Health Center, where she and Dr. Clyde Tomlin became a beloved team. Following her cherished stint at UNM, Collie and Jake got down to some serious travel and toured Macchu Pichu, the Amazon Basin, Puerto Rico, and Alaska. In her last years, those who loved her, which was anyone who met her, wondered how her nearly sightless eyes could still sparkle so radiantly, how her body inhabited by pain could keep smiling, how her heart devastated by disease could continue to pump love and strength and joy through all who knew her. The answer is that a life of such beauty, courage, and love cannot be contained within a body. A life of beauty, courage, and love goes on forever. A memorial to celebrate the life of Colista Marie McCabe Bird will be held at 2 p.m. on Saturday, January 24th at the family home in Albuquerque.
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