A Wing and a Prayer

Grant County Journal
March 21, 2011
A Wing and a Prayer
Written by Janet Warren
Today, March 21, is my father’s 86th birthday. I was his present on his 33rd birthday, so today is also my birthday. (The answer is 53 for those of you doing the math). I would like to dedicate this week’s column to my father, Richard Fullenwider.
There are little pieces of time in my life that stand out. They are moments when either I was stunned beyond belief, or when I witnessed something that was so breathtaking I stood in awe.
I was stunned when President Reagan was shot. I couldn’t leave the television as I tried, unsuccessfully, to wrap my mind around it. Do you remember where you were when Challenger exploded 25 years ago? I was in my daughter’s first grade classroom and everyone was tuned into the news coverage as it took off. I was paralyzed. A similar experience happened when students were massacred at Columbine High School, an hour away from my home in Colorado Springs.
I am sure all of you, like me, have experienced personal things over the years that have left you numb and not able to catch your breath. Perhaps a break up of a marriage or the death of a loved one taken too soon. Thank goodness my life’s scale has been tipped with more experiences being awed than I have had with being stunned. I consider those moments to be tender mercies.
Two of those memories involve eagles.
I spent the last two years of high school in Spokane, graduating from Mead in 1976. My father was the Boy Scout Executive of the Inland Empire Council for 17 years, beginning when I was a junior in high school. I went away to college after graduating from Mead, but I always considered Spokane my home. Even after living 26 years in Colorado Springs, the Northwest tugged at my roots.
One morning I was in the kitchen. It must have been a Saturday since my dad was home. My father excitedly started calling for me. “Janny, Janny come here quick!” I ran into the living room wondering what in the world could have happened since my dad was always a calm man, not given to outbursts. We watched, father and daughter, as a bald eagle soared just over the pine trees in our backyard. It was so awesome to see that majestic bird against the backdrop of the blue sky. This was in 1975 when bald eagles were on the endangered species list, so seeing an eagle fly in our backyard was truly a moment of wonder. What I remember most about the experience was the look on my father’s face. He was completely delighted at the sight of the eagle.
Years later, I was living in Colorado Springs. Our home had a sunroom off the master bedroom and my son Jeffrey, who was 4 years old at the time, was in there while I was cleaning. All of a sudden, he started calling for me, “Mommy, mommy, big bird, big bird!” I thought he was seeing one of the many magpies we had in the forested backyard, so I tried to placate him with “Yes, those birds are big aren’t they?” He would have none of that, so I finally went into the sunroom and stared at a golden eagle in a tree about 20 feet away from the window. Jeffrey and I were so mesmerized by the sight, I didn’t even think about grabbing my camera. We watched, mother and son, in complete silence for at least five minutes until the eagle took off. His wingspan must have been six or seven feet, and it was so beautiful I couldn’t speak. To this day, Jeffrey remembers, and he teases me about thinking his big bird was a magpie.
When I saw Toni Canady’s photo of a bald eagle in the Grant County Journal on January 10, I knew I would be making a pilgrimage. Mike and I had an anniversary right after that, so when he asked me what I wanted to do, my answer was clear. “I want to go to Grand Coulee and see if I can get some pictures of bald eagles.” Unfortunately, the only two eagles I saw were too far away to get a good shot. Word got back to Toni, and within a few days she provided me with a color photograph of the picture that appeared in the Journal. I asked Toni what went through her mind when she took this picture. Eagles inspire that feeling of awe in Toni, like they do me. As she took this particular photograph, she thought of her ill father-in-law, who loved eagles, and imagined he would have enjoyed being there with her. Shortly after this picture was taken, Toni’s father-in-law, Louie Canady, passed away. Toni has peace with it knowing he is now flying with the eagles. Those are the tender mercies I’m talking about. The ones that bring peace and meaning.
In a not-too-distant day, I will frame the picture of the eagle, alongside a picture of my father and part of a poem by Don R. Wilkins from Motley, Minnesota.
By strength of wing will soar on high.
My future yet to be
To glide beyond restricting Earth.
Eternity to see.