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 places . 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 Freedoms.
Hope
you enjoy this.
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