The following two stories are from people I personally know very well, and know that they would never invent something as special and caring as the experiences they had when their grandmothers were dying, and especially in the story of Edith – many people witnessed the amazing manifestation of love from the other side. Some of the names have been changed in respect for the living.
Silvia and her Abuelita: The Warning of the Butterfly
Silvia and her grandmother lived in Lima, Peru at the time this story took place.
Silvia was an active young woman with a full-time job as an accountant. She also had a close relationship with her family, but she was especially close to her maternal grandmother, who had been ill, but in a stabilized condition for quite some time.
One day, as Silvia was getting into the car so she could drive home after a long hard day at work in a neighboring town, a huge white butterfly – definitely not indigenous to the region – flew up and landed on the window of Silvia’s car, just as she was getting in. Silvia stopped a moment and looked at the beautiful insect, wondering where it had come from and why it had landed on the only car with a human being there.
As she looked on, she called her mother on the phone, a little earlier than was her daily call. She usually checked up on her young children and inquired about her grandmother’s condition during the drive home. This time, however, she wanted to share the peculiar incident of the butterfly. As soon as her mother answered the phone, she was told without preamble that she should hurry home; her Abuelita was dying and had been calling for her.
After rushing to her mother’s house and leaving the motor idling, she raced into the house, where she was met by her mother, too choked up by her emotions for words.She simply nodded her head and went to her grandmother’s side, took her frail hand into her own and kissed her lightly on the cheek. Although her Abuelita was unconscious and seemingly unaware of what was going on around her, a smile touched her lips at Silvia’s kiss. Minutes later, Abuelita was gone, her hand cold in Silvia’s.
Silvia never saw another butterfly like the one that caused her to call her mother, but she was convinced that the butterfly had been sent to warn her to call about her grandmother, so that she could have the chance to be with her one last time.
JoAnne and Edith: The Dolpins' Gift
The early morning hours of September 9, 1995, just two short months before Edith’s hundredth birthday, found JoAnne sitting next to her grandmother’s bed in the nursing home where she had resided since her hip replacement three years earlier. Although she wasn’t particularly spry physically, Edith’s mind was as sharp as it had always been. She hadn’t been feeling very well for the past week, and had been unable to eat or even drink because of a constricted throat.
The two of them were conversing, when Edith started trying to clasp her hands, but they wouldn’t stay together. When JoAnne asked her what she was doing, she explained that she wanted her hands clasped now so there would be no problems when it was time to place her in her casket. Struggling to keep the tears from forming in her eyes, JoAnne folded her grandmother’s hands together, knowing that her Grammy’s pain would soon be ending.
Suddenly, Edith stopped speaking mid-sentence and told JoAnne that she was thirsty. JoAnne jumped and immediately offered to go across the hall and get her a glass of water, but she said no, because she had to wait a few more minutes, until she was on the other side where she could see a fountain of cool water. Ten minutes later, she was drinking her water on the other side.
The story is already beautiful as it is, but it actually goes further. JoAnne and Edith had spoken often about what would be done after Edith’s death. She was to be cremated and her ashes were to be spread over the waters just off Newport Beach, California, where she had spent the last 54 years of her life. JoAnne would always comment about how her Grammy would be food for Flipper, and the two of them would have a good laugh over it.
The day of Edith’s memorial service and ashes spreading dawned bright and warm. Fifteen family members were in attendance. Sunny, JoAnne’s mother, remembered to take her sea-sickness pills, as Edith had constantly reminded her. A large group of dolphins followed the boat as it chugged its way out of the canal into the open waters. The captain said this was normal, although the group was somewhat larger than usual, and that they would leave as soon as he turned off the motor.
The dolphins did not leave, however. They continued to swim around the boat, chattering loudly among themselves and then put on an impressive show of dolphin acrobatics that lasted for about fifteen minutes. They then silently swam off. Sunny was heard to mutter, “She’s already in complete control.” This simple phrase seemed to sum up the general consensus of the participants.
Hundreds of pictures were taken that day, but none with the dolphins turned out. Participants in the service said that the dolphins glittered like diamonds when the sun hit them, so perhaps the brightness and glare given off was the reason that the photos didn’t turn out. No one really knows, but all those who were in attendance that day are convinced that their beloved Edith was there in attendance with them.
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