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Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Spirit Takes Flight

By Carol Dollard

On Veterans Day 2005, I got word that my dear friend & coworker, Mike, had been killed in the war in Iraq.   The news was heartbreaking.  A few days later on the way to my regular Sunday morning shift at the Raptor Center I picked up a newspaper – there on the front page was a half page article about Mike & the sacrifice he had made for the rest of us.  I sat in the parking lot looking at the pics and reading the article with tears rolling down my cheeks.  I collected myself and went in for treatments only to learn that we were going to release an American Kestrel that day – right there on the grounds of the center.  In honor of Mike, the crew let me be the one to actually release the AMKE.   As I pulled back the drape to release him, the bird gave me one backward glance & then took off – vocalizing & circling over our heads several times before settling in a nearby tree.  There was something incredibly healing in that moment.  To this day I cannot see an AMKE without thinking of Mike.  

P.S. For the record it made me tear up just to type up this story.

Carol Dollard is a long time supporter and volunteer at the Rocky Mountain Raptor Program.  Her husband and two daughters have all volunteered for RMRP and one daughter had held a staff position for some time.  She shared this story with us as a way to reflect on how much working with the raptors has impacted her life.

www.rmrp.org/donate

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