For "Flying Eagle," life of service began with plunge from airplane

"Beauty has rested on my shoulders each time a challenge has been overcome, because the knowledge I gain blesses me with inward growth."

— Teresa "Flying Eagle" Baird, from an introduction to her book of fables.

When you meet Teresa "Flying Eagle" Baird, it's impossible not to notice that she is trapped inside her body, her arms and legs immobile, her frame too thin from years of fighting multiple sclerosis.

But don't pay attention to her physical limitations; they aren't what define her, and they haven't kept her from effecting change across Snohomish County over the past decade.

"My brain is not inside my legs," the 57-year-old Granite Falls woman likes to say.

Instead, notice her quick smile, her ability to speak wisely on any number of topics, her constant good humor and, most of all, her incredible inner strength.

She tells people, "The reason I don't walk is because I'm really a mermaid."

By all accounts, Baird could have given up years ago, when she was diagnosed with her incurable disease and then left to raise four young children alone after her husband committed suicide, a casualty of delayed stress from the Vietnam War.

Instead, she turned into a tireless advocate, rallying legislators across Washington to improve transportation for disabled Snohomish County residents. She has spent about 1,800 hours over the past 10 years volunteering for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society's Greater Washington Chapter and has fought for services for veterans who suffered, like her late husband, from the lasting affects of war.

Last year, she flew to Dallas to receive a national award from the MS Society for her advocacy efforts.

"When she's on board and committed to something, her boldness is a driving force in bringing people together," said Ruth Cashell, director of advocacy and direct services for the local MS chapter.

Along the way, Baird — who lives on about 25 acres off the Mountain Loop Highway — has picked up allies across all levels of state government.

Even as MS steals more of her body, she continues to make plans, calling on her connections to help with her newest venture: a 17.5-acre retreat to be built on her property for war vets suffering from post-traumatic stress.

"The disability is annoying, but it doesn't get in my way," said Baird, who is considered a quadriplegic.

"I have experienced many forms of internal and external war."

— Teresa Baird

Baird has always been a fighter, but it wasn't until 1987 that her resolve was put to the test.

She and her husband, Bill, had been married for 18 years and together had six kids. Four of them, ages 3 through 12, still lived with them in the house they had bought a decade earlier.

Baird had recently been diagnosed with MS and, in a year's time, would go from what she described as "walking like a duck" to needing a wheelchair full time.

Then, Bill Baird began seeing the jungles of Vietnam alongside the Mountain Loop Highway.

He complained about them with surprise. He told Baird he hadn't thought about the war in years, she said. In retrospect, there were other symptoms of depression, but the family didn't know enough to diagnose them.

After he died, Baird said she wanted to fall apart, but she wouldn't let herself. Instead, she focused on her four children at home. She had to raise them from a wheelchair, surviving on her late husband's pension.

To calm herself, she would sit in front of the washing machine, watching the spin cycle through the clear cover.

"I learned during that time about praying and positive thinking," Baird said.

Eight years later, Baird decided it was time to gain her life back.

So she went sky diving, even though she relied on a wheelchair. She told everyone, "In the air, we're all equal."

She showed up for her sky dive dressed as an American flag, just for fun.

Afterward, she gave herself the nickname "Flying Eagle," and it has stuck with her.

"I did the sky dive to celebrate all the good in my life — and to build on it," she said.

"I have come to realize that everything is based on love."

— Teresa Baird

After she flew through the air and landed safely, Baird became an advocate extraordinaire. She started volunteering with the MS Society in 1997 and became instrumental in forming the state chapter's first government-relations committee.

As part of the committee, Baird would travel to Olympia to argue for disabled rights. Often she would bring a handmade, wooden "peace pipe" — reflective of her Native American heritage — and tell officials, "I come in peace, but I want your money."

Her tactics made a lasting impression on legislators, including Sen. Val Stevens, R-Arlington, who describes Baird as an inspiration.

Baird worked with Stevens to erect a memorial in Olympia for Vietnam vets; it debuted in 2005.

"She is just very tenacious," Stevens said.

Also in 2005, Baird helped the MS Society fight for better wheelchair access on Capitol grounds in Olympia. As a result, Gov. Christine Gregoire allocated $1.3 million toward that effort, and now disabled citizens can get around the government buildings more easily, said Cashell.

Perhaps Baird's greatest feat locally was helping create a transportation system for disabled people who don't have access to the bus system.

In 1996, changes in Snohomish County's Dial-A-Ride (DART) bus system threatened to leave about 350 rural residents without service. Baird realized the effect this would have on disabled residents and set up a meeting with the state Department of Transportation.

Cathy Silins, now assistant director of the agency's Public Transportation Division, met with Baird and was impressed with her capacity for learning.

"She is a person who has an extreme amount of curiosity," said Silins. "She would call me and say, 'I'm just in kindergarten, and you need to teach me what you know about transportation.' "

With Baird's help rallying support in Snohomish County, and about $100,000 in state grants, the department established the Transportation Assistance Program (TAP). The program utilized Senior Services to help pick up where DART left off.

TAP is still expanding every year. Last year, it provided 34,700 rides to rural Snohomish County residents, up 18 percent compared with 2006, according to Senior Services.

"She's way out of kindergarten now," said Silins, referring to Baird's knowledge of transportation issues. "I'd say she's beyond high school."

"War is a desperate attempt to find love."

— Teresa Baird

Slowly but surely, MS is sapping Baird of her motor skills. She has a full-time caretaker who lives in the small house next door on her property, and Baird recently lost the use of her hands, making it impossible to type. That's a challenge because Baird is also a writer who has self-published several fables, all of them with themes of overcoming adversity.

She needs help going to "the office," her code name for the bathroom. Years ago, when her kids were still at home but at school during the day, they would carry her to the bathroom in the morning — and she would be stuck there until they returned home.

Often, she worked on her volunteer efforts from the bathroom, telling people she was in "the office" when they spoke on the phone.

She tells this story with a smile, as she tells all of her stories except this one: One day, she was in the grocery store when she saw a young man in an Army uniform. She looked in his eyes and saw the same pain she saw in her husband's before he died.

That's what makes her cry. And that's what has led to her recent venture, the nonprofit Healing Hearts in Hope Council. Its first task will be establishing the retreat on her property near Mount Pilchuck.

Baird plans to build a sweat lodge and allow vets of all wars to camp in huts on the property in an effort to cure them organically of any delayed reaction to battle.

"I want to keep it serene and quiet so people can heal," she said.

While she has formed a board of about 10 community volunteers, she must raise some money to file for nonprofit status and enlist a volunteer accountant, attorney and land surveyor to help with the project.

If her track record is any indication, she won't have a problem finding donations.

"I have no doubt that her wishes for that will come true," said Cashell, of the MS Society. "When she wants something, she goes after it with every fiber in her being."