Little signs

[lmez]

I lost my mom last month. It's been overwhelming, but I feel like I've been getting little signs that she's ok.

A week after she passed, my coworker brought me lilacs. She told me that they just started blooming again in her yard and she thought she'd bring me some to cheer me up. She had no idea that not only are they my favorite flower, but they remind me of my mom because we had them at my house growing up. 

On the one month anniversary of her passing, I woke up around the same time that I got the call that she wasn't going to make it a month earlier. I couldn't go back to sleep, so I got up and left for work early so I could stop for coffee on my way. A coworker was there getting coffee as well, but was running late because he spilled his. After getting my own coffee ready, he paid for mine, not knowing the significance of the day for me. 

It is the little things like this that make me think she's looking down and saying she's ok. How often do lilacs bloom in October? How often do I leave early and bump into someone running late? It could be purely coincidental, but I like to think it's my mom saying hi. It also makes me realize how much the small things truly can make a difference in someone's day. You never know how much someone needs those little acts of kindness.

Has anyone else experienced things like this? I would love to hear other stories of signs.

[Wandering Soul]

Hello, Imez!

I am very sorry for your loss of your mother.  Thank you for sharing what you've experienced with the signs you feel you've received from her.  I love that you received lilacs in October!

The death of a parent sure is overwhelming, but those little signs can sure bring some relief.  I also believe that I received signs from my Mom after she passed, although it was after the fact that I recognized them.  

I've never personally really thought very much about butterflies, but after my Mom passed it eventually became very hard not to notice them.  I am most certainly not a "Butterfly Whisperer" but after my mother's passing I experienced several instances where butterflies would land on me or objects around me!  I certainly enjoyed those moments but didn't initially attribute the experience to my Mom right away.  At one point, I even found an injured butterfly on my porch that I was able to feed!  Each experience was unexpected.  Some experiences were delightfully strange.  Others were just amazing.  All of the experiences however were a welcome distraction from the deep sadness of losing my mother.  So, I just enjoyed them as best I could...   

Of course as time passed, our family slowly started the painful process of sorting through my mother's things to determine what we would keep and what would be donated.  As we started the process, we began to notice an undeniable theme... butterflies.  We all knew very well that my Mom loved to work in the yard with her flowers but she never once conveyed an outward interest in butterflies.  Not once.  Not even after a trip to a butterfly house may years before she passed away!!  As we continued to go through her things, items kept emerging that had butterflies on them.  My Mom had a butterfly scarf, butterfly jewelry, a butterfly perfume bottle, and even butterflies on some of her clothing.  She never appeared to wear any of those things, nor were they outwardly stored.  Not once did she ever discuss her interest in butterflies with any of us, but she clearly liked them!  Items with butterflies continued to manifest like crazy.  It was like this little secret of hers.  Butterflies.  

To this day, I remain personally grateful for whatever you want to call those experiences.  Signs?  Maybe.  Coincidences?  Maybe!  Matters not to me, I remain thankful for them and the peace and comfort they were able to bring during such a dark, somber time.  I still greatly enjoy seeing them!  Somehow, they make my Mom's spirit feel less far away...

So, coincidence or not and no matter what others may believe, enjoy those little experiences for what they mean to you personally!    Let them bring you peace as you continue to navigate your grief journey. 

 

Wishing you all the best, 

Wandering Soul