Stella's Hummingbird...

Out of clutter, find simplicity;
Out of discord, find harmony;
In the middle of difficulty,
lies opportunity.
~Albert Einstein

For the past several weeks, I've been on a de-cluttering mission. It's definitely not a project for wimps. I had trouble making decisions about what to discard and what to keep and where to put things that I did decide to hang on to.

I fashioned a make-shift work bench out of saw-horses and long boards; it was a wonderful place to empty boxes, one at a time. (Even though my car had to set outside during several rainy days. Which wouldn't be so bad, if the trunk didn't leak!!)

All was going along fairly well and I had a few laughs over all the stuff I had collected through the years. What had I been thinking?!

One particular box was filled with small miscellaneous items and an enormous pile of papers. It didn't take me long to discard most of the junk, but going through the papers took considerably longer as I sure didn't want to throw away anything important. A small pink (In Memory of) card caught my eye; a neatly folded piece of white paper stuck out from it's edges.

I read the card first.

It stopped me in my tracks and a flood of memories and tears took over while my heart missed several beats.

Stella had been a close friend of my youngest daughter throughout their school years and only 27 when she lost her life in a tragic car accident. I clearly remember that awful day, even though it was 11 years ago.

The white piece of paper contained a copy of a poem that she had written just one month prior to her death.

As I began to read, an unusual event took place:

A hummingbird flew deep inside the garage, held it's position directly in front of me for much longer than seemed normal, then turned and disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. This may not seem too unusual to most, but it was at this time that I happened to notice that the pink card also had a small picture of a hummingbird in the top right corner. I hadn't noticed it before then.


We are all entitled to our own opinions, but mine is that Stella's Spirit visited me for that moment. She wanted me to find her powerful words, and just as importantly, I knew she wanted me to share them with others. She was wise beyond her years.

Because her words are precious and sacred to those who cared so deeply for her, even when her world was troubled, I feel that it's important to keep her poem private.

I will tell you that her message was that of never letting go of hope and keeping faith no matter the odds.

Forgetting what was then;
It's time to begin again.

Powerful... if you take time to think about it.
Thank-you, Stella, for your insight.

Love,
Barb