Real Love

Valentine’s Day was last week, but I want to tell you about a wonderful love story that I recently was privileged to share. It takes place in the hills of Cornville, Arizona and involves an amazing woman, her parents, and a most unusual collection of dogs, cats, horses and exotic birds.

Saara is a 30 year old veterinarian technician who has been sharing her home with abandoned and abused animals since she was young. Her family has a small spread in Yavapai County where they shelter rescued animals ranging from Amazon parrots and boxers, to a draft horse and a miniature donkey.

We met Saara through a mutual friend when we were asking around for a good place to ride horses. We were told that she has a very special gift for working with animals, but weren’t prepared for the greeting we received when we climbed a fence and entered an empty-looking field. Suddenly, in the distance, we saw a group of horses moving quickly towards us. One of them was very big, and they weren’t slowing down. Roy and I stopped walking, but Saara continued forward and greeted them with baby talk and enthusiastic pats and butt rubs.

Roy and I just looked at each other. I felt a nudge at my knee and glanced down to see a very small donkey looking up at me. Now this was more my size! We were surrounded now, but there were more to come as three boisterous boxers rounded the corner and began to jump on everyone, including the horses.
It was a busy scene, but apparently only the beginning. Saara turned to us and casually mentioned that there was also a house full of birds.

As we became better acquainted with all of Saara’s “babies”, she told us their histories, which involved a tremendous amount of cruelty. It was really hard to believe that these incredibly gentle, affectionate animals had been on the receiving end of such abuse. She described the conditions they were in when they came to her, and we asked her if there had ever been one who had not been able to recover. She thought about it, and quietly said no.

Saara plays down the strength and tenacity that surely must be required to persevere in such situations. But the love and devotion she feels are absolutely tangible. There’s a sense of calm and sureness that flows from her and permeates the air.

It was a little less calm, though, inside with the thirty birds. Surprisingly, there was no mess or even odor from the many cages, just ear-piercing squawks from everyone who was glad to see her. They came in every size and color, but I was taken aback at the number whose bodies were mostly bald. Apparently birds who have been mistreated often continue to pluck out their feathers, even when their circumstances change for the better.

Roy and I hosted birds on our shoulders and on our arms as Saara told us further stories. Some were tinged with humor, like the one about the cockatoo who had learned to scream curses at people who stayed on the phone too long. Most, however, were heart-breaking.

Of course we asked her - how do you do it? She responded simply that her family had always taken in strays and animals that need help. “It’s just what we do.”

Such a powerful statement.

Valentine’s Day is about romantic love, but there are also different kinds of love to be celebrated. Caring for sick, featherless birds and skittish, emaciated horses is certainly not something we’re all capable of doing, but how wonderful that there are families like Saara’s who can. And how fortunate that she wants others to benefit from her experience. She owns one buckskin that’s getting ready to move down the road to a shelter for abused children, where he’ll be a therapy horse for those who have been sexually or physically abused themselves.

Roy and I did get to ride on our second visit there, as the sun was beginning to set behind the surrounding hills. It was beautiful and a lot of fun, made even more special by the fact that we were on horses that had been cherished enough to bring them back to health and wholeness.

Now that’s real love.

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“Real love is a permanently self-enlarging experience.”

-- M. Scott Peck