“Butterfly of Hope”

Butterflies are a common sighting shortly before, during, and after the death of a loved one. Family members report that a butterfly will land on them, or stay near them for long periods before finally flying away. When my father was dying of cancer, I was fifteen years old and attending a summer camp. We’d gotten the news that he was terminal, with only two months left to live, but Dad didn’t want me to miss my oneweek annual camp adventure. I was reluctant to leave, fearful that something bad would happen while I was away (it did not- Dad lived past my sixteenth birthday and another month beyond that). While at the camp, a butterfly landed on my shoulder and wouldn’t leave me. I felt at the time that it was about Dad, and I sensed a spiritual peace, as if I would be able to handle the grief that was to come. When we face a terrible heartache, there is great fear that we cannot survive it, but we are stronger than we know, and somehow we manage to get through each day, hour by hour. There was a difficult journey ahead for me, but this was the calm before the storm, and the memory of a butterfly’s reassurance stays with me still.

I’d love to tell you more stories about butterflies and how a butterfly stayed with grieving parents in a chapel during the worst hour of their lives, but these are not my stories to tell. Instead, I’ll invite you to research for yourself this amazing occurrence of butterflies appearing, landing on, and staying with people who are approaching grief or freshly grieving.