A Hummingbird, A Teenager & A Painting
It all started when I stood on the spot where I was agonizing over whether this was the right place to lay my husband Dave to rest. I looked up to the sky and asked him, "Is this the right place? Is this where you want to be? I don't know. I'm not sure. Please somehow let me know."
Out of nowhere it seemed, a hummingbird appeared, between the pine trees above me, hovering, still and quiet in the space where I was looking. At first I couldn't quite decipher what had flown into my field of vision and I looked at it confused. The hummingbird patiently waited and in that moment, a memory came flooding back to me from long ago, when my husband and I were still young and talked about whether heaven was real or not. We had made a promise to each other that whoever died first would send a sign that heaven was real and that we were all right. I hadn't thought about that promise since.
Where did this hummingbird come from I wondered and I looked around and back to be sure I was seeing what I thought I was seeing. And there the hummingbird stayed, alight in the sky, just above me, on the spot where my husband is now laid to rest.
I pushed aside my fear of seeming silly and told my parents what had happened. That Dave had come to me and of the memory that had instantly come to mind. I told my daughter and son what had happened too, even though they were only 8 and 3, in the hopes that it would bring them the same peace that had washed over me.
Many days later, as my children and I sat at my husband's funeral in the front pew of the little church on the cemetery grounds, my daughter leaned over and tugged at my dress sleeve and whispered in my ear, "Daddy's here."
I looked at her, feeling sick about the coffin in front of us and the crying people around us, but she pointed at the tremendous arched window that framed the coffin instead. "Look, there he is -- the hummingbird." And there he was, darting back and forth across the full width of the window. "I've been watching him the whole time," she informed me and she turned to her brother and pointed Daddy out to him as well.
Later, as I hobbled my way through grief and moving and finding new schools for my children and a new job for myself, when I least expected it, but most needed it, a hummingbird would appear to lift my spirit.
One day, in a moment of despair and disbelief, I stood doing the dishes and thinking about the hummingbird and doubting such a thing could be real. It was just wishful thinking from a grieving widow with an overactive imagination. The dog scratched on the door to be let out and I stepped out into the small courtyard and unknowingly into the presence of a hummingbird hovering just above my garden gate. I blinked my eyes several times to make sure they were seeing clearly and then I burst into tears and onto my knees.
The hummingbird continued to be with us and appeared to my children and myself on many occassions, so it was with great delight that we came upon a small painting of a beautiful hummingbird in a quirky, crowded consignment shop in our town. The owner regaled us with tales of the teenage artist, Jordan Thomas, who had painted it -- only 17 years old. She gave me his information and we were off. But the hummingbird painting would not leave my brain.
I e-mailed Jordan and told him our story and that I wondered if he had any more hummingbird paintings I could look at. Did he ever! So the kids and I went to his gallery and I fell in love with each and every one of his lyrical paintings. Then he offered to paint one for the kids and I. I was overjoyed. We picked the colors from jewelry Dave had given me and decided we wanted the hummingbird to be ascending into heaven amongst the colors of the earth and jewels.
This gorgeous painting now hangs in our home and I walk by it multiple times a day. It brings me the same peaceful feeling I had at the cemetery when I first saw it and remembered the promise my husband and I had made and realized that heaven is real and my husband is ok.
Not long before we met Jordan, a friend of mine had come over with a magazine article from her church describing the hummingbird as a symbol of heaven. I was astounded and then assured.
Is it all just coincidence and circumstance? Or is it real? I've had too many hummingbird encounters not to believe, and so I do.
Out of nowhere it seemed, a hummingbird appeared, between the pine trees above me, hovering, still and quiet in the space where I was looking. At first I couldn't quite decipher what had flown into my field of vision and I looked at it confused. The hummingbird patiently waited and in that moment, a memory came flooding back to me from long ago, when my husband and I were still young and talked about whether heaven was real or not. We had made a promise to each other that whoever died first would send a sign that heaven was real and that we were all right. I hadn't thought about that promise since.
Where did this hummingbird come from I wondered and I looked around and back to be sure I was seeing what I thought I was seeing. And there the hummingbird stayed, alight in the sky, just above me, on the spot where my husband is now laid to rest.
I pushed aside my fear of seeming silly and told my parents what had happened. That Dave had come to me and of the memory that had instantly come to mind. I told my daughter and son what had happened too, even though they were only 8 and 3, in the hopes that it would bring them the same peace that had washed over me.
Many days later, as my children and I sat at my husband's funeral in the front pew of the little church on the cemetery grounds, my daughter leaned over and tugged at my dress sleeve and whispered in my ear, "Daddy's here."
I looked at her, feeling sick about the coffin in front of us and the crying people around us, but she pointed at the tremendous arched window that framed the coffin instead. "Look, there he is -- the hummingbird." And there he was, darting back and forth across the full width of the window. "I've been watching him the whole time," she informed me and she turned to her brother and pointed Daddy out to him as well.
Later, as I hobbled my way through grief and moving and finding new schools for my children and a new job for myself, when I least expected it, but most needed it, a hummingbird would appear to lift my spirit.
One day, in a moment of despair and disbelief, I stood doing the dishes and thinking about the hummingbird and doubting such a thing could be real. It was just wishful thinking from a grieving widow with an overactive imagination. The dog scratched on the door to be let out and I stepped out into the small courtyard and unknowingly into the presence of a hummingbird hovering just above my garden gate. I blinked my eyes several times to make sure they were seeing clearly and then I burst into tears and onto my knees.
The hummingbird continued to be with us and appeared to my children and myself on many occassions, so it was with great delight that we came upon a small painting of a beautiful hummingbird in a quirky, crowded consignment shop in our town. The owner regaled us with tales of the teenage artist, Jordan Thomas, who had painted it -- only 17 years old. She gave me his information and we were off. But the hummingbird painting would not leave my brain.
I e-mailed Jordan and told him our story and that I wondered if he had any more hummingbird paintings I could look at. Did he ever! So the kids and I went to his gallery and I fell in love with each and every one of his lyrical paintings. Then he offered to paint one for the kids and I. I was overjoyed. We picked the colors from jewelry Dave had given me and decided we wanted the hummingbird to be ascending into heaven amongst the colors of the earth and jewels.
This gorgeous painting now hangs in our home and I walk by it multiple times a day. It brings me the same peaceful feeling I had at the cemetery when I first saw it and remembered the promise my husband and I had made and realized that heaven is real and my husband is ok.
Not long before we met Jordan, a friend of mine had come over with a magazine article from her church describing the hummingbird as a symbol of heaven. I was astounded and then assured.
Is it all just coincidence and circumstance? Or is it real? I've had too many hummingbird encounters not to believe, and so I do.
Here is the picture Jordan Thomas painted for us when he was 17. It is large! 6 feet by 4 feet -- so I've included a smaller detail of the hummingbird too. It is flecked with gold so it plays in the light.
You can see more of Jordan's beautiful hummingbirds at his website http://jojobros.com/JOJOBROS.com/Gallery.html. He and his brother Joe are both artists and share a gallery together.