This I vow:

If these are faces, only a vegan could love, I must work harder still to help others to be vegan. I must assure that your faces remain present in the minds and hearts of others who would eat your headless bodies or take what is yours. I must open eyes so that others see who I see.

We’re still unsure whether Harumi is male or female. We believe she is an Easter Egger, and it is difficult to determine for awhile.

We won’t be disappointed if she turns out to be a he. We won’t withdraw the sanctuary this little bird has been provided because we can’t get what we want. We won’t place her in a macerating machine or dump her at a shelter.

What we want is very simple. We seek long, happy, protected lives for every one of Triangle Chance for All’s rescues, and female or male, it makes no difference.

Harumi is free to be who she or he is. We won’t harm a feather on our sweet friend’s head. We will protect her from the big, harsh world with unconditional love.

– Linda Nelson

I will always remember the moment I saw my son for the first time. I was flooded with love for him as I acknowledged my responsibility.

I changed radically with Ian’s birth. I wanted to be worthy of being his mother so I left my shy self behind. This wasn’t easy for me, but it was necessary if I was going to be the best advocate for Ian as he grew. I wanted a better world for him to live in so I knew I had better go about changing it, and, first, I had to change myself.

Love is a call to action!

I felt a similar flood of feeling when Rosemary and I picked Harumi and Kotori up from the shelter. I wanted to be worthy of taking the place of their missing mothers. I want a better world for them, too.

Now I can hear the voices of many saying, “but, Linda, they’re chickens! How can you compare your love of your son with what you feel for them?”

Isn’t this a mere deflection from the matter at hand? Doesn’t calling my love for my son into question draw attention away from their lack of concern for sentient and suffering animals?

Harumi and Kotori need loving care and concern especially since someone has eaten their mothers!

My work to promote veganism and to save the lives of animals has changed me as profoundly as my son’s birth. In fact, they are part of the same whole, and they can’t be separated.

Love is a call to action!

– Linda Nelson

The morning frenzy over their favorite chickweed was over, and I decided to stay with Harumi and Kotori for my daily meditation.

I could feel the peace descend in the room, and when I opened my eyes I saw that my fellow yogis were deep in meditation, too.

Om Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu

May all beings everywhere be happy and free from suffering.

– Linda Nelson