I've had multiple butterfly encounters since Joe's passing but this is the one that tugs at my heart the most.
My husband Joe suddenly passed on March 29, 2008. The good Lord never blessed us with human children, instead he blessed us with a golden retriever daughter we named Rommie. She was 5 1/2 at the time of Joe's passing...and just as ornery as any human kid.
This is my story, my butterfly story, and my song.
It was Friday, July 31, 2015. Rommie took a turn for the worse that morning after having been sick the night before. I made an appointment with her vet. My friend and a neighbor came over to help me get Rommie in the car as she could not walk anymore. She apparently had a stroke in the wee hours of the morning.
About 6 months earlier I discovered the road that goes by my church is the most direct route to the vet's office. (Rommie was 12 and I finally figured out the best route to her doctors. Geez.) Once we got there, her doctor examined her and said prognosis was grim. After informing and consulting with my Mom and Joe's brother, I made the decision to let Rommie go live with Joe.
I took the same route home and after I drove by my church, I had to stop at the next intersection. I immediately thought of the line "My chains are gone, I've been set free." from the Chris Tomlin song Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone). Rommie had hip dysplasia for years so her chain was gone and she was running freer than she had here. The light changed and I started through the intersection. All of a sudden, a little yellow butterfly edged in black flew across my windshield from the bottom to the top. I gasped and figured it was Rommie telling me goodbye and confirming she was running like the wind with Daddy.
Rommie did not let her hip dysplasia slow her down. From the moment she woke up until Mr. Sandman put her to sleep at night, she lived out this verse:
This is the day the Lord has made.
We will rejoice and be glad in it.
We will rejoice and be glad in it.
Psalm 118:24
~ Michele
P.S. She was cremated on August 5th, 2015 - her 13th birthday.
Michele Kearns
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