|
While
driving with my
husband to southwestern Nebraska to attend the funeral of a
dear relative, my 98-year-old Great Aunt Ruth, in mid-afternoon we
found ourselves in need of gas and a break from the trip. We drove off
I-80 at one of the numerous exits that indicated gas was available. At
the end of the side road, we pulled into a moderately busy truck stop.
What a surprise to find the beautiful creature shown here perched on
the hose of one of the
gas pumps. In over fifty years each, we had
neither of us ever seen a luna moth in person. No wonder, as they are
mostly found in the eastern U.S. and Canada, fly at night, and only
live for about a week. It seemed to be a sign at the time, and more so
now that we know it is virutally unheard of where it appeared to us.
A couple of days later at the burial following the
funeral service, we
were again greeted by one particularly attentive monarch butterfly,
that kept up with us as we walked from the gravesite. We then went to a
reception for the relatives who had traveled from several states for
the funeral. The family met in a common room at the retirement home
where Aunt Ruth had lived. The room had many windows, so was unlit as
the sun shone brightly through them. As we walked into the room, one of
the four overhead lights flickered and came on. Everyone was engaged in
various conversations, so it did not appear that anyone had flipped a
switch in the room or in the hall nearby. Nor did it seem likely that
only one of a set of four lights could be turned on by itself. Until we
pointed it out, no one
else seemed to notice the one light that remained lit during the
gathering that afternoon except my husband and I. No matter, we had our
answer from Aunt Ruth.
When we originally created this website, it occurred to us that it
could be helpful to
others to have a symbolic way of contacting their departed loved ones.
Traditionally, this has been done in thoughts and prayers, or in
journals
or letters never mailed. We thought, in this computer age, what better
way could there be than by email? And so, we created
Messenger Gabriel.
|
|