The Messenger

Legends say that hummingbirds float free of time, carrying our hopes for love, joy, and celebration. Hummingbirds open our eyes to the wonder of the world and inspire us to open our hearts to loved ones and friends. Like a hummingbird, we aspire to hover and to savor each moment as it passes, embrace all that life has to offer (Papyrus)


One sweltering summer day I invited my three grandchildren to sit for a photographer. They tried to distract the man with their teasing and flirting, funny faces and silly poses. He returned jokes, making them smile.
They sure love life," he commented. "They stole my heart when they came into the room."
Everywhere I took my grandchildren they touched the hearts of those they met. }My own heart had long ago been stolen by Brittany, 13, and a beautiful, golden-haired girl with a giggle. Aaron, ten, with blond curly hair and an awesome baseball player, was outgoing, smart, and always flirting. Misty was nine with long blond curls to her waist. She was creative, friendly, and loved to play soccer.
The grandchildren and their father (our son) had moved in with Floyd and me, and they had been living in our hearts ever since.
         Those photographs, taken only two weeks ago, were eventually implanted into the three, heart-shaped headstones of their graves.
On an August evening, a week before school started, our next door neighbor, Jim, 40, and the kids coach for baseball, drove my grandchildren to an All-Star baseball}game. On their way home, a drunk driver coming from the other side of the road crossed the center line and hit their car head on. All five in the car died.
When the officer came to the house to tell us, I noticed tears in the corner of his eyes. The officer introduced himself and gave us the terrible news. Needless to day, we were in shock. I prayed, Oh please, God! Donât let this be true

However, it was true. All were dead including the young man who had hit them.
That next day our son Paul, our neighborâs best friend, was returning home from Germany. What were we going to do? How could we find the courage to tell our son, Paul, that his family died? My husband, Floyd, and I sat silently in the living room, so stunned by this horrible news that we had no words. We held each other at times, surrounding each other with love and strength. God was surely with us; yet the shock overtook our reasoning.
Meeting Paul at the airport was an unexplainable thing to do. The look in Paulâs eyes when we told him what happened is a look that I shall never forget. There are somethingâs that no words can describeâ¦this was one of those times. The beautiful pictures arrived in the mail the following week. What else could I do with them? I decided to take them to the funeral director and asked them to put them on each of the three heart shaped gravestones we picked out. None of us really got over it.
         Ten months later Paul turned 42. He decided he wanted to camping on his own.
He had just bought a brown Jeep Cherokee and trailer. Pulling out of the driveway all I could picture was my heartbroken son with his only hopeâ¦his faith in the Lord.
Going round the bend to enter the campground he somehow lost control of the jeep and the small camper flipped over pulling his over. Paul was pinned under the Jeep and had to be pulled out of the jeep with the Jaws of Life.
When an officer rang out front door bell, I felt my heart race and I gasped to catch my breath. Then he told us about Paulâs accident.
         "Is he okay?" Floyd asked.
         âThe doctors arenât sure yet,â the officer explained.
         Floyd gazed into my eyes and then wrapped his arms around me. "We need to pray," he said, "Paul will be all right."
However, Paulâs broken neck transformed him into a quadriplegic for the rest of his life.
         The recovery and therapy was long, but I felt God with us every step of the way.
         After visiting Jimmy at the rehabilitation center and see him struggling every day broke my heart. First losing his children, then his mobility to life. It was due to his faith in God that got us all through this nightmare. He never once did give up and told us it was the will of God that helped him deal with this tragedy.
After visiting Paul, I would visit the children's graves. They schoolmates started leaving things like a basketball, a baseball, a soccer ball and little porcelain and plastic angels on their gravesites. I bought hummingbird feeders and put one in front of each grave. I made the nectar by mixing water and sugar. I stood there filling up the bird feeders. One afternoon, as I knelt to say a prayer, I felt the damp coldness of the ground beneath the grass.
         It was a fall, cloudless morning with a warm breeze in the air. I sat on a bench donated in memory of the grandchildren by their classmates and thought about their short, wonderful lives.
As I meditated, I noticed a bright, red pickup pulled up behind my car. An elderly got out of the car and started to walk toward me. The woman looked to be about 75 and had her hair tied back in a bun. She was wearing a brown tweed suit. And she seemed to be smiling. The man was dressed in a light grey suit, a plaid bow tie and had a brown hat on.

"Did you see that beautiful cloud behind you?" the woman asked.
{I turned to look and realized the cloud was in the shape of an angel. But how could that beâ¦the sky was overcast and heaving a moment before. Almost looked like it was going to rain. I stood motionless for a moment overcome by the brightness of the deep blue sky and light fluffy cloud floating effortlessly. I wanted to thank the couple for making me aware of the cloud and tell them I used to call my oldest granddaughter ângel.When I looked back, the couple and the truck were gone.
As I turned back to the cloud, my heart was touched with peace and love. I felt Godâs presence and knew my grandchildren were cared for.
{Though it has been hard to lose my precious grandchildren, I know if we have faith and trust in Him, He will see us through whatever happens to us. As a result of that experience each time I return to the cemetery, I sense that inner peace and love is in knowing that I will be reunited with my âangelsâ someday. Our Heavenly Father cares for each of us and is with us every day, sending his angels to watch and protect us always. We have only to believe and put our trust in him and he will get it through it all.
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