Shortly before Christmas my sister called to tell me, one of the counselors Mom had seen in therapy was walking down the hall of the nursing home. Suzan asked her if she was going in to see Mom. She said, no, it wasn't her normal appointment day. Suzan told her that Hospice had been called in and Mom was dying. So the counselor, turned around and came back.
Suzan roused Mom "Tammy is here to see you Mom."
Mom looked at Tammy with an odd look on her face, and said, "Oh, I feel butterfly..."
Thinking she meant her tummy was bothering her, Tammy asked, "Do you feel butterflies in your stomach?"
Mom replied, "No… I feel like... I AM a butterfly."
From that point on Mom said nothing further, nothing pronounceable. She could only respond with a mild attempt to vocalize with one syllable... “um”.
A day later my sister said, "The oddest thing happened today! Even though we have this cold weather, as I was entering the house, a little orange butterfly flew around me. Then a little yellow one, too, and they both fluttered away.
A few days later, Mom fluttered away, too.
~~~~~~
Note: Photo was taken the following July.
What a lovely memory about the butterflies. And I love the "fluttering away" idea ~ free to float on the breeze, light and beautiful.
ReplyDeleteAfter my beloved grandad died, I noticed that butterflies used to make a point of landing on me ~ and fluttering around me, even when others were about.
A very beautiful memory! My grandma loved birds. One summer evening I was out in my yard and I saw a baby owl sitting on my back fence, something we rarely see but always hear. I was getting into my van to go somewhere and when I turned my headlights on, there it sat on the fence and it didn't move. It automatically made me think of my grandma, she was a very wise woman, and I just got the feeling that she was there. Every time I hear a Dove coo or see a Robin hopping around or a humming bird at our feeder in my yard, it reminds me of her.
ReplyDeleteI have a sculpture that my Uncle OK Harris made that is a butterfly, I'll take a picture and post it for you...it was one of the many sculptures he made for my grandma that my mom recently let me have. I am hoping to put it right in the middle of my flower garden...when I get it going.
It is nice to have pleasant memories of a loved ones passing. Something I will always carry with me was something that happened at Mom's burial service. Beautiful, heartfelt music played as two white doves were tossed into the air and as they circled high above us. The two white doves signified the joining together again of Mom and Dad. Also, the day Mom died was a gloomy day; it rained all day. It was a beautiful, sunny day the day she was buried. I like to think that Jesus cried the day Mom died and that He was rejoicing the day Mom was laid to rest.
ReplyDeleteI agree, a very lovely memory.
ReplyDeleteYour messages are deeply touching! Thank you, All.
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