Just My Day Blog: Freedom and Jeff

Freedom and Jeff

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 to Harvey Wildlife Center 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   lie in. I used to sit and talk to her,   urging her to live, to fight; and she would lie   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-Hodgkin's 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 Harvey 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