People want Freedom. Life. Hope. Love. You don’t realize how much you need any of these until you don’t have it or them anymore.
111 days ago, Patrick, Lydia, my mother-in-law, and I found a tiny little duckling in a parking garage, lonely, by itself, without family. We knew it had two options, live or die. So we opted for life once we knew momma duck was out of the picture for sure. Turned out hotel had released momma into wild. All other ducklings, dead. So we took on the responsibility of rehab.
This is the day we found her. Precious and sweet.
[Before I go farther in this story, here’s a disclaimer. Some folks disagree in that we should have never took her in, some think we should have “left her and let nature takes its course,” even though we know cars and 6th floor parking garages are not “natural deaths.” So all opinions aside, we did what we felt best for Radiant. Which was to give her hope for a life, which the rest of her flock was robbed of.]
Moving on, we knew the option was life. So we called a vet, a wildlife specialist/friend, and we were given instructions. We never have read so much about ducks as we did when Radiant came into our lives.
We decided since baseball means the world to Patrick, and Radiant was smaller than a baseball the day we found her, we would track her growth. In the pictures to follow you will see her progress.
To sum it up, our goal throughout the 81 day process was rehab: To release her. To provide a way for this duck to be in its God given environment. Wild and Free. Which is what we all want in this thing called life.
Well, 1 month ago she was ready. Ready to fly. Ready to be independent. She had been indicating it for a few days and week. We found a farm away from cars, garages. Fields, Ponds, Rivers, Trees, Ducks, and more.
The owners of the farm are awesome. They are a shelter, a home to the misfits, the abandoned, the wannabes. They have 33 animals on their farm. Lamas, Peacocks, Ducks, Hens, Cats, Dogs, Goats, and more. They took in Radiant as their own. Our hope… that she would escape and find freedom. Here’s our last moments with her.
Radiant adapted, found friends, and found freedom. Within 4 days of being free range on the farm, she flew the coop. She’s been MIA. She flew, she soar. Radiant found life. Found freedom. Found new life. Reminds me of my own journey in life.
Be wild and free. Find freedom and fly.
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