A brother’s gift of love and comfort

After Woman’s World reader Vanessa Pham lost her brother, she had a visit from a winged messenger of love from above. She writes:

Soon after my family and I moved to the Carolinas from Texas, I got a call from my dad that my brother, Jay, was in the hospital with COVID-19 and was having trouble breathing.

With my brother being only 46, I had hoped that he would get better and prayed. However, about a week later, he was put on a ventilator and within just 24 hours, he passed away. It was so sudden, shocking and devastating. He had a wife and six children.

As soon as Jay’s Celebration of Life Memorial was set, I flew back to Texas. It was a short and bittersweet few days with family and friends. After I flew back to the Carolinas, my brother’s loss really started setting in. I grieved and shed many tears. I couldn’t believe he was really gone.

One day, recently, my heart was heavy with sadness when I saw a cardinal outside my kitchen window. I have seen cardinals in my lifetime, but I had never seen one that was that bright-red and radiant. It immediately captivated me. I couldn’t take my eyes off of it.

“I had never seen a cardinal that was that brightred and radiant!”

It looked so beautiful and filled me with joy.

Then today, I was chatting with Jay’s wife, Jessie, about Jay on the phone, when she offhandedly mentioned that he had loved butterflies and cardinals. I had never known this. And I had not told Jessie about the cardinal outside my window.

Now that I know Jay loved cardinals, I believe the cardinal I delighted in seeing and watching right outside my window was not by accident or chance. I believe it was a messenger of love sent by my brother as a way to bring beauty and joy to my day. Perhaps he was watching and delighting in it too, and we both enjoyed the little cardinal together.