Readers share their stories of signs from lost loved ones
Rabbi Marc Gellman
I recently asked you, dear readers, to send in some stories about signs from family and friends who have died. Thank you for swamping me with your signs of love and hope.
Peacocks
I am a widow of three years. When I was coming out of the funeral luncheon, it just came into my head that my husband would send me signs of peacocks. I know that’s crazy, and I don’t know why I thought that, except we live in an old Victorian house and he always told me that peacocks were very Victorian. As I exited the door of the restaurant, there were live peacocks in the parking lot.
Six weeks later, my daughter attended her boyfriend’s sister’s wedding and went outside during the party. There in the garden were peacocks — about two years after he passed. I got to Sunday Mass late and my usual pew was filled with other parishioners, so I slipped into a different one. After communion, when I was kneeling in prayer, I glanced at the floor in the aisle directly in front of me. Unbelievably, one of the tiles was a peacock.
I later discovered that the ancient church viewed peacocks as a sign of immortality based on an ancient Greek belief that the flesh of the peacock did not decay. I got the chills again. It was as if Steve was really trying to comfort me and say not to worry, that there is a heaven, even though while he was alive he couldn’t shake the doubts. —fromJ
The red stone heart
I lost my dear husband 10 years ago to throat cancer. Six years after his death I took his ashes to Glacier National Park in Montana to set him free. We had vacationed in the park prior to his diagnoses and he loved the mountains and asked me to please spread his ashes there. My best friend accompanied me on this trip.
On my husband’s birthday we hiked about five miles to Avalanche Lake in the park and I had a private ceremony before spreading his ashes. As much as I struggled with the decision to do this so far from our home in Wisconsin, I felt at peace in respecting his wishes. We took a boat tour and the captain let everyone off the boat to walk along the shoreline. We walked for a short time and I told my friend to go down by the water so that I could take her picture. She walked close to the water and frantically called me to where she was standing. There was a heart made of red stones (my favorite color) exactly where she was standing.
I truly believe that David sent me this sign thanking me for setting him free in such a beautiful place. The odds of her walking to the exact spot that the heart was on the shoreline was so much more than a coincidence. It has been four years since my last sign and I believe that not only am I at peace but so is my beloved husband. — from D
Butterflies
My wife passed away several years back. We had been married for 44 years and lived in the same house for 35 years. My wife grew up in the Midwest and loved bugs, animals, plants, etc. I once saw her help a firefly out of a spider web. The look on her face as she watched the firefly leave her palm was angelic.
Butterflies and dragonflies were of special interest to her. We had tried for years to get some “butterfly” bushes to grow around the house but, sadly, they often died off. About a week after my wife passed, I was walking up a path to the driveway. At the top of the path there are two huge trees. On each tree were literally hundreds of butterflies sitting there with their wings slowly moving back and forth.
I was stunned! As I stood there in amazement, a butterfly landed on my right hand. I had never touched a butterfly much less had one land on me. I brought my hand up to look closer at the butterfly and to speak to it.
Its wings were just slowly moving back and forth. Maybe a minute passed in absolute awe.
Suddenly, the butterflies on the trees all left at once. The one on my hand stayed another few seconds and seemed to listen as I finished talking to it and then, it too was gone.
It was a beautiful fall day with an evening sun. I still vividly can picture the moments there. If these are coincidences, our
Lord must be saying “Let’s have fun with them.”
What wonderful memories they create. — from P
And let us all pray: Thank you God for all your signs.