INSPIRING STORY OF THE WEEK: DRAGONFLIES AND THE GREAT BLUE HERON by James Osborne
INSPIRING STORY OF THE WEEK
DRAGONFLIES AND THE GREAT BLUE HERON
by James Osborne
Dragonflies and the Great Blue Heron is the inspiring story of messages we can get from nature – if we only learn to listen.
For more than a decade, Great Blue Herons had a special meaning for Brad and Cindy. During those years, Brad had no hint this special meaning would one day acquire a much deeper significance.
The couple enjoyed watching the graceful herons at their summer cottage. They would feed about 100 feet away from their deck, drawn by schools of minnows in a bay below. To celebrate their thirtieth wedding anniversary, Cindy and Brad commissioned a well known British Columbia artist to create a watercolor of a pair of blue herons. This painting hung above their bed on their bedroom wall.
Sadly, eight years later Cindy lost her battle with cancer. Brad was lost too. But he didn’t forget his promises to Cindy: to live healthy and to find someone special for friendship and tenderness. Eventually he listened.
Finding a new companion
His first promise to Cindy was easy to fulfill. He struggled with the second, until three years later when he met Susan.
One day, Susan was drawn to visit a yoga ashram near Brad’s place on the lake. Brad went along, out of curiosity and to be with her. After all, they were still in the euphoria of new love.
One of these famously shy birds seemed to be on the lookout, patiently and unblinkingly watching and following Brad and his new friend. Would Cindy approve of this new relationship? And then they got the sign. Susan was convinced Cindy was sending them a message. Brad was not so sure – until something else occurred. Then he knew, Cindy was checking up on him with a smile.
Jim is a three time Tales2Inspire® winner. Click here to read about his other winning stories, Aunt Mary’s Birthday, and The Pantomime Hunter.
This story is now published in
Tales2Inspire ~ The Emerald Collection
Beyond Coincidence stories
[…] Jim’s winning story, Dragonflies and the Great Blue Heron, was published in Tales2Inspire ~ The Emerald Collection in 2012. A perfect fit for a collection of Beyond Coincidence stories, it is about one of life’s greatest tragedies — love lost prematurely through death — and about the triumph of finding true love later in life. This deeply moving story proves there can be a silver lining after a devastating emotional storm . . . if you believe. Read more. […]