Was It A Gift From The Grave?

  It was Mother's Day 1997. The first Mother's Day after my mother passed away.  We lived in Shepherdsville, Kentucky on a 5 1/2 acre farm in the country.
  It was a beautiful warm sunny day and we were out in the yard doing some gardening. My family had bought me a bunch of flats of various flowers and plants and  I wanted to spend the day getting them in the ground.

  I wasn't in the greatest of moods since it was the first Mother's Day without my mother.  It was hard before because we lived so far away from her but at least I could talk to her on the phone.

  Michael, my husband was doing his best to lift my spirits and the kids were also trying to make it into a happy day for me.  I really appreciated it but still I felt so alone.  If you still have your mother then you just can't relate to what I was going through.

  I was greatful and all for my family. I mean any other day trying to get the kids to want to help in the maintaining of the yard and landscaping was next to impossible.  Well at least not without a bunch of I don't want to or totally disappearing from sight.

  My mom really loved birds.  Birds of all kinds and I know that, that's where my interest of our foul feathered friends came from.

  Anyways, there I was kneeled down in a flower garden that ran the length of our driveway. I was trying to keep my face away from the view of everyone because no matter what I did, I had a steady stream of tears falling down my face.  I was just so heavy-hearted missing my mom.

  All of a sudden I heard a strange sound. A tweeting singing sound of a bird. One that I had never ever heard before. I mean we lived in the country and had lots of different birds that sang the prettiest songs but this one was one I hadn't heard before.

  It was right above my head.  I happened to be underneath a flowering cherry tree that was just starting to bud.  I heard it again so I stopped doing what I was doing, kind of afraid to move because it was so close and I didn't want to scare it.

  The singing continued on and on.  I couldn't stand it anymore so I slowly looked up and there it was!  A brightly colored bird.  Very vivid colors of blue, red, green and yellow!  I had never ever seen anything like it before in my life!  Well at least not except in a bird book that my mom had gotten me the year before.

  In fact I remembered looking through the book one night  while visiting my mom and dad and pointing it out to her and saying how much I would love to see a bird like that in real life.

  I stood up and was in total awe.  I walked towards that bird and I bet I got within about 5 feet of that bird before I stopped and just stared.  It didn't fly away.  Instead it sat right there letting me look at it intensely and listening to it sing.

  All of a sudden it accurred to me, the whole event, the day it was, the bird it was and all I could do was smile.  I just knew my mom had sent that bird to me for my Mother's Day present to let me know that she loved me and that she was alright.  Right after that, the bird flew away.

  Later on I got that bird book out and looked it up.  It was a Painted Bunting which happens to be no where near habitating in Kentucky.  That's when I was 100% sure that my Mom sent it to me from the grave.

Well I Believe Now

  I have always been alittle sceptic on the idea of things getting into your head while your sleeping.  You know, put on a learning tape while you sleep and well you know the rest.  Well I woke up early this morning and since my husband works the graveyard shift, I went out into the frontroom and turned on the tv.  I grabbed my cup of coffee and sat down to enjoy the morning.

  Before too long I had fallen back asleep. I am not one that dreams very often but this time I did. All I can remember is that I was with my mom and she was telling me that she had to go. I was in tears hanging onto her hand as she was pulling away saying to always remember that I love you but I have to go. In my dream I was frantic!

  All of a sudden I woke up hearing myself yelling please don't go mommy please don't leave me!  I was in a full fledge mantic crying fit. My face was drenched with tears and although I had stopped yelling, I couldn't stop crying.  After a few minutes, I was able to calm myself only to start back up again.  This happened over and over. It took me almost 45 minutes to finally stop.

  That's when I noticed what was on the television.  It was the Regis and Kelly show and you know what they were talking about?  Yep, that's right, mother's. It was a show about how much mothers love their daughters and all the things they do for them.  Basically it was a mother's day show since Mother's Day is this coming Sunday.

  Every time I would think about how I had got woken up, I would again start the uncontrollable crying. Actually even when I wasn't thinking about it, I would have tears slowly dripping down my cheeks. I just couldn't stop them, they just kept coming.

  After my husband woke up, I got him his coffee and sat down next to him to try and tell him about what had happened to me.  I was so choked up that after just 4 or 5 words I started to cry.  I just couldn't get it out!

  I have to say I felt pretty bad for Michael, he of course didn't know what was going on so he was getting alittle upset. He must of thought something really really bad had happened.

  After a few minutes I was finally able to tell him the whole story.  Even now, several hours later, I am still having the same effects only not as bad.  I don't understand it, probably never will.

  It's been years since my mom passed away. She passed away the year my oldest daughter graduated and she's 30 now so see, it has been a long time.  It just goes to show me and make me be a compkete believer that things really do sink into your brain when your asleep.