In Pack Up the Moon, birds symbolize freedom, change, and the soaring height of love’s permanence. Josh first sees a seagull when he burns his funeral clothes on the roof of his apartment building. He begins to understand the power of this symbol when, in a flashback, Lauren sees a seagull on Cape Cod and admires it for its strength, calm, and fearlessness, wishing she could become one in the Great Beyond. Lauren attains this freedom in her dreams, for instance, when she dreams of flying during her hospitalization in Chapter 18. Watching birds and imagining their soaring flights provides her with a sense of escapism and a wish for a life unburdened by illness.

For Josh, birds often appear in quiet moments to connect him with Lauren and symbolize their enduring love. Such appearances occur both before Lauren’s death, such as when herons and pelicans trill and gabble on the beach, and after her death, when a seagull appears at her funeral. A seagull also appears when month three’s letter arrives, and at another time, a seagull lands in Lauren’s rooftop garden. While the seagull symbolizes Lauren in Josh’s eyes, birds, with their songs and migrations, remind Josh that, although life goes on, love connects the living and the deceased.