Thursday, July 3, 2008

Thankful Thursday


Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom
2 Corinthians 3:17


As our friends are preparing to celebrate Independence Day tomorrow, we too are thankful for the freedom we have over here.

We are thankful for this story as it made us realise that some of the best lessons in life is not learned through mankind but God's other beautiful creation.

Note from Happy : After a loud protest from me, LS has grudgingly acknowledged that she has learned a lot from me too.


EAGLE STORY


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. Both wings were broken, her left wing in 4 places. She was emaciated and covered in lice. We made the decision to give her a chance at life, so I took her to the vet’s 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 dowl 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 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 course 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's.



By Jeff Guidry

Thankful Thursday is hosted by Iris at Sting My Heart.

To Our Friends Who Are Celebrating, Have A Happy 4th!

25 comments:

Lisa@BlessedwithGrace said...

Wow, great story. What an incredible opportunity for you, to care for such a majestic creature. Thanks ou for sharing with us all.

Addicted to Beadz said...

That is a great story. Thanks for sharing.

Have a great TT.

Cheryl

Kess And Her Mama said...

The power of love between human and animal. It's awesome.

Anonymous said...

Yes, very thankful indeed. Great story. Have a wonderful Holiday!

Anonymous said...

happy TT and happy 4th of july! God bless!

BrandytheGreat said...

That's certainly a great story!

Girl Girl Hamster said...

It's so nice that LS get to learn so many things from you Happy

~ Girl girl

Abby said...

Hi, Happy...

That is a beautiful story...

Have a wonderful 4th of July...

Abby xxxooo

♥Mona + Prissy + Angel Weenie♥ said...

What a wonderful story of love and devotion. Thanks so much for sharing. I am thankful that the Mommy will be home with me for 3 whole days starting tomorrow for the july 4th holiday.

love ya ... Mona

Tips_tricks said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Mack said...

That is such a great story!!

We are looking forward to the 4th of July cause Momma gets to be home for 3 whole days!!

Darlene said...

Great story!
Happy 4th of July!

Thanks for visiting my place and for commenting!

Blessings,
Darlene

Toffee said...

what a wonderful, wonderful story.
thank YOU.

Kristi said...

Oh, I've seen that powerpoint through an email before. It made my cry. Thanks for sharing!

Anonymous said...

I love the story about Freedom..thank you so much for sharing it! God bless,

Sharon

Moco said...

If we listened to animals more and less to humans the world might be a better place.

Gus, Louie and Callie said...

That is a wonderful story. Freedom is truly special..

Big Sloppy Kisses
Gus, Louie and Callie

Lizzy said...

Happy!

That's a wonderful story... We have truly been blessed by God with freedom!

Happy 4th of July!

Sparky

Unknown said...

That's a fantastic story of love. Thanks for sharing it. Happy TT.

www.makimeji.com

Rambo said...

Happy,
that's a great story. Have a happy 4th of July!
Rambo

Rambo said...

Happy,
that's a great story. Have a happy 4th of July!
Rambo

Lorenza said...

Hi, Happy!
Thanks for sharing this great story with us!
Kisses and hugs
Lorenza

Leaon Mary said...

That is an amazing story.
PTL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Lea
<*)))><

Nancie said...

That's a very touching and encouraging story. Thanks for sharing it. Have a blessed week!

eph2810 said...

Powerful story about 'Freedom' - thank you so much for sharing it.

Be blessed this 4th of July weekend...

Thank you for sharing your grateful heart with us.