This is the kind of story you need when it seems like the world is
spiraling out of control.
Not many people get a picture of this proud bird snuggled up next to them
Freedom and Jeff
Freedom and I have been together 10 years this summer. She came in as
a baby in 1998 with two broken wings. Her left wing doesn't open all
the way even after surgery, it was broken in 4 place . She's my
baby.
When Freedom came in she could not stand and both wings were broken.
She was emaciated and covered in lice. We made the decision to give
her a chance at life, so I took her to the vets office. From then
on, I was always around her. We had her in a huge dog carrier with the
top off, and it was loaded up with shredded newspaper for her to lay
in.. I used to sit and talk to her, urging her to live, to fight; and
she would lay there looking at me with those big brown eyes. We also
had to tube feed her for weeks.
This went on for 4-6 weeks, and by then she still couldn't stand. It
got to the point where the decision was made to euthanize her if she
couldn't stand in a week. You know you don't want to cross that line
between torture and rehab, and it looked like death was winning. She
was going to be put down that Friday, and I was supposed to come in on
that Thursday afternoon. I didn't want to go to the center that
Thursday, because I couldn't bear the thought of her being euthanized;
but I went anyway, and when I walked in everyone was grinning from
ear to ear. I went immediately back to her cage; and there she was,
standing on her own, a big beautiful eagle. She was ready to live. I
was just about in tears by then. That was a very good day.
We knew she could never fly, so the director asked me to glove train
her. I got her used to the glove, and then to jesses, and we started
doing education programs for schools in western Washington . We
wound up in the newspapers, radio (believe it or not) and some TV.
Miracle Pets even did a show about us.
In the spring of 2000, I was diagnosed with non-hodgkins lymphoma. I
had stage 3, which is not good (one major organ plus everywhere), so I
wound up doing 8 months of chemo. Lost the hair - the whole bit. I
missed a lot of work. When I felt good enough, I would go to Sarvey
and take Freedom out for walks. Freedom would also come to me in my
dreams and help me fight the cancer. This happened time and time
again.
Fast forward to November 2000, the day after Thanksgiving. I went in
for my last checkup. I was told that if the cancer was not all gone
after 8 rounds of chemo, then my last option was a stem cell
transplant. Anyway, they did the tests; and I had to come back Monday
for the results. I went in Monday, and I was told that all the cancer
was gone.
So the first thing I did was get up to Sarvey and take the big girl
out for a walk. It was misty and cold. I went to her flight and jessed
her up, and we went out front to the top of the hill. I hadn't said
a word to Freedom, but somehow she knew. She looked at me and wrapped
both her wings around me to where I could feel them pressing in on my
back (I was engulfed in eagle wings), and she touched my nose with
her beak and stared into my eyes, and we just stood there like that
for I don't know how long. That was a magic moment. We have been
soul mates ever since she came in. This is a very special bird.
On a side note: I have had people who were sick come up to us when
we are out, and Freedom has some kind of hold on them. I once had a
guy who was terminal come up to us and I let him hold her. His knees
just about buckled and he swore he could feel her power coarse through
his body. I have so many stories like that.
I never forget the honor I have of being so close to such a
magnificent spirit as Freedom.
Hope you enjoy this.
Jeff
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