Christmas Day 2016

This is the letter that was mailed with our cards this year.  The story behind our little dove of peace.

The mourning dove appeared one morning during the throes of my IVIG treatments as aseptic meningitis had its way with my body.  She was such a pale grey that she appeared cream colored.   Every morning she would feed at the bird feeders and then sit and stare in our windows as I lay on the couch.  I got the sensation that she was watching over me.

She made appearance after appearance, always after my treatments when I would be so sick.  I knew she was no ordinary dove.

As the months went by, I blogged about her and Rick wrote about her in one of his columns.  His column was read by a friend in the 280 Living newspaper.  In a few days, we received a package and letter from her.

In years past, this

 friend had lost her teenage daughter in a car accident.  Our friend had bird feeders where she often had her morning coffee and watched her feathered friends.   One morning as she was drowning in her grief and sadness, a creamy mourning dove appeared at the feeder, hopped up to her window and observed her.

Our friend wrote in her letter of how this creamy colored dove appeared to be watching over her, day after day.

When our friend read Rick’s column about my dove, she knew we both had visited by a spirit of love and protection.  In the package, there was a small mercury glass dove with creamy gold flecked wings and ribbons for a tail.  It truly embodied our mourning dove.

I have that little bird, and some days I hold her in my hand as reminder that in our darkest moments, hope appears in truly unexpected ways.  So, that is why this Christmas my card is our mourning dove, with the message of peace.  We all have our darkness, we all suffer loss and experience fear, but there is hope and peace that we humans can share with each other.

This Christmas, may we all have peace, may we all have hope.