About Messenger Gabriel

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.

Messenger Gabriel