The White Feather

My Uncle Jerry died just over a month ago after a long battle with colon cancer. He was "technically" only my uncle for a few years, but he and my Aunt Carol (my mom's sister) were together for as long as I can remember, so he really was always my uncle - technicalities aside...

Carol has a daughter named Dena. Dena has three sons but only two of them are old enough to know and remember their Grandpa Jerry. These kids were heartbroken when he died. They loved him so much. At the wake, one of her sons asked me if their Grandpa would be friends with my Grandpa in heaven (my grandpa died 5 years ago.) Jerry and my Grandpa were friends before, so I know they are friends up there!

Just before the one month anniversary of his death, Dena and the kids were talking about Jerry and sharing stories of the fun they had with him. Dena said that she told the kids to look for a sign from him that he's o.k. She had read in one of her books that a white feather is a sign from a loved one that they are doing fine.

On the one-month anniversary of Jerry's death, Dena's oldest son, Ryan, went home from school a different way than he usually did. He was walking along and came across a white feather.

A day or so later, Dena and her other son were cleaning out the car, and they found a white feather in the back of the car.

I'm not religious, but I believe in God. I also believe that when people die, they can still see us down here and are watching us. Jerry sent those kids those feathers to help them heal. They still miss him. They will need a lot of time to heal, but it's nice to know that Jerry sent them a little something to hold onto.