Freedom and Jeff

Sometimes I am sent an email that is so valuable I simply have to share its meaning with those I care for.  So, please enjoy this true story of courage… The story of the love and life shared between Freedom and Jeff.

Jeff wrote: 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 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 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-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 Survey 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.

Oh Yes, The Miracles of Life!   Thank You Freedom, and Thank You Jeff.

My Love To You Always