Dragonflies...

I am intrigued by dragonflies because they remind me of my dad.

Several years my husband bought my daughter a book called "The Secret of the Dragonfly, A Story of Hope and Promise". I fell in love with the story which, in a nutshell, is about how a grandmother uses the life of the dragonfly to help her grandson understand how they will always be together even after her death. It's a sweet story about transformation that displays how even after death we are still together.

It has always meant so much to me because I was still in the grieving stages of dealing with my father's passing when we stumbled upon this book.

Then to tie things together even more...my dad was a fisherman. He loved going fishing with his brother up to Lake Erie. He had a little trailer there and spent lots of time over the summers doing what he loved. And if you've ever spent anytime by a body of water...whether large or small...you will see lots of dragonflies.

We live across the street from our local community park and over the years we've taken our kids there to fish in the little lake located in the heart of the park. Every time we would fish I would see so many dragonflies and I always felt it was my dad saying hello. We were doing what he loved with some of the people he loved most so it made sense that he would want to be with us.

So this explains why anytime I see dragonflies I feel like it's my dad saying hello.

Plus I also love dragonflies because I've seen so many colorful ones over the years. I recall being up at our local dam with our kids when I stopped to take a break and sit on a bench to rest for a minute. As I sat there a very colorful dragonfly came and rested on the back of the bench. It was bright blue and had some red on it as well. I couldn't believe how colorful it was. Since I love to use lots of color in my artwork I am drawn to dragonflies from that perspective as well.

Meanwhile, a couple weeks ago after running to the store I pulled into our driveway. As I walked around the van to start grabbing grocery bags I saw this dragonfly sitting on the tip of my husband's car antenna.

It was unreal how it just sat there and didn't fly away as my kids an I hovered around it to take pictures. I got very close to it and I honestly believe it had a smile on it's face. I tried to zoom in on it's face but it fluttered away before I could get to it. The cool part of this is that my dad was always smiling! That was one thing that everyone always said about him...he had a great smile! Here is a picture of my dad, me and my sister around the year 2000 or 2001. Look at that smile! It was always so bright! I sure do miss seeing it.

So I really believe it was my dad stopping by to see us once again.

You may think I'm crazy to feel this way, but that doesn't matter to me! Everyone has their way of coping and this is one of my tools to help keep me from falling into the sadness of knowing that my parents are both gone now.

To each his own, right?

Okay...I better get a move on. I have lots of work to do today. I'll be sharing more soon so stay in touch! Until then,

"Superman's Cape"

I just finished reading a book called "Superman's Cape" by Brian Spangler.

This book touched me emotionally on many levels. Sara, a widow, is struggling to cope with her husband's unexpected death. It's bad enough that she has to face such a painful loss. But the fact that her husband was murdered in a robbery that was witnessed by her two young sons was, at times, too much for me to take.

I'm a mom and happily married. I can't image how hard it would be to move on with my life if something happened to my husband. Multiply that fear a thousand times and imagine my children watching him die? I could hardly let myself go there. But the book was so good, I couldn't put it down.

Sadly for Sara, life marches on. She is dealing with this deep loss, going broke and in a panic trying to figure out how to help her young son, Jonnie, who tried to save his dying father with his 'Superman's Cape'.

Overwhelmed with worry over Jonnie regression, Sara's older son, twelve year old Kyle, has a breakdown. Crying over the loss of their former life he runs out of their home and ends up getting lost in the Croatan National Forest, located behind their home. Kyle isn't familiar with the woods or any of the wildlife that it sustains. Wearing my 'mom hat' for nearly 18 years now this subject matter scared the daylights out of me! And to add to this horror a hurricane is fast approaching.

Meanwhile, a local TV station reports on this tragic story and chooses to send out two novice field reporters. It just so happens one of these reporters, weatherman Jacob Hanson, has a 'gift' and can see things before they happen. He reluctantly gets involved in the family's search for Kyle.

This story kept me on my toes from beginning to end. As I said, being a wife and mother put a perspective on the story that was heartbreaking, but the author has a way of keeping your interest. No matter how sad or scary it was I couldn't put the book down. I simply 'had' to find out what the outcome was for this grief-stricken family!

If you are like me and enjoy stories that feature a touch of the paranormal then I highly recommend this book. It was a page-turner and a quick read. I look forward to having a chance to read any future writings by Brian Spangler.

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More to come soon...until then,