Love Never Dies

A few weeks ago, The Girl and I were sitting in our rocking chairs on the front porch, quietly soaking in the warmth of a beautiful summer day. As we rocked side by side, she turned to me, tears in her eyes and said “I miss Brandon”.

Not knowing what else to say, I nodded my head and said “I know you do.”

The Girl stood and walked to the porch railing and leaned her head against a support column. Seemingly out of nowhere, a blue dragonfly appeared and landed on the railing next to her.

The Girl didn’t notice it at first and, as she continued to stare out at the yard, lost in her thoughts, I watched the dragonfly inch slowly closer to her. It sat there for quite some time, wings still, barely moving at all and I wondered to myself, when was the last time I had seen a dragonfly land on something and stay?

That would be never.

I then asked myself when was the last time I even saw a metallic blue dragonfly in our yard?

Once again, that would be never.

After several minutes, The Girl noticed the dragonfly and bent down to examine it. The dragonfly did not immediately fly away as one would expect but, instead, inched ever so much closer to The Girl and, the two stayed like that, examining each other for several additional minutes before The Girl stood upright at which point, the dragonfly zoomed away into the sunshine.

The Girl stood motionless for a moment, smiling to herself before turning to me and saying “Blue always was Brandon’s favorite color.”

Then, she went inside, leaving me with goosebumps racing up and down my arms.

Several days later, Brandon’s mom came by the house to see The Girl and to drop off the turtle figurine that Brandon had purchased for her in Mexico last November.

Unfortunately, The Girl was at a friend’s house and so she missed the visit but Hugh and I spent several minutes with her, and, as she was leaving, Hugh encouraged me to tell her the story of the dragonfly. I hesitated at first, not quite sure how she would receive it but, decided to tell her anyway and, as I related the story, she grew more and more teary-eyed until, at one point, she gasped and her hand flew to her mouth. Then, she began to sob.

And I thought; great idea, Hugh.

It was ok, though. She had a story of her own.

The day after Brandon died; a blue dragonfly appeared in her yard and, as of that day, had not left. It hovered near her whenever she was outside and had landed and actually sat still long enough for them to photograph it.

I hugged her and we cried together for several minutes. We agreed that it would be just like Brandon to visit in some form, if he was capable of doing so, and it in no way surprised us that he would pick something fast and shiny.

The night before last, Brandon’s mom picked The Girl up for a visit to the cemetery. While they were at Brandon’s gravesite, neither of them was the least bit surprised to see a metallic blue dragonfly hovering nearby.

And it made them both smile.