Entry 5 - Symbolic, A Sign? I hope so.

While this journal is meant to hold very near and dear memories of my dad, it is an experience that I recently had that finally encouraged me to open up this journal that Martin started, and add to it.

Five years ago, when my best friend’s mother died, she told me of a beautiful story of her aunt, her mother’s sister, leaving New Jersey after the funeral and being greeted by a beautiful butterfly in the airport. She took this to be a symbol of her sister still being around and watching over them. I, too, thought it was beautiful and contemplated if it could be possible or if it was just a optimistic outlook on life and death. However, shortly after my father passed and the birds chirped loudly in “my dad’s tree,” my mother and I noticed, among all of the beautiful gold, New Jersey finches, was a beautiful blue jay, perhaps the king of the tree. A few months later during the month of October and the Jewish holiday, Sukkot, the Rebbitzen, the Rabbi’s wife, of the Chabad Center of Monroe, caught eye of a blue jay that had flown into the Sukkah with which my father always played a large part in building. The Rebbitzen explained that the bird was so close by that she could feed it. She believes that it was my dad stopping by to check out the Sukkah. J

On October, 25^th, 2008, exactly 4 months after my dad died, the Jewish service of unveiling the tombstone took place. It was a warm, sunny, fall day. Shortly after the service was about to end, I looked up and I noticed a baby blue jay perched on the berry tree near my dad’s grave. I did not think anyone would believe me especially since it was only minutes after the Rabbi had just finished sharing the story of the blue jay coming to visit the Sukkah. I quickly whispered what I saw to my best friend and my sister-in-law. We were all in awe.

As I was leaving for work on Wednesday morning, November 26, 2008, I noticed a blue jay around the corner from my house. I was surprised as I didn’t realize they stuck around for the winter. It put a smile on my face.

After work, the same day, I went straight to get my car inspected on route 130. While I waited for my car to finish, I reminisced about my dad taking me for my first time to get my car inspected. I remember him teasing me, as he enjoyed doing, by telling me that the inspectors were going to break my car. My dad mocked me about my car by saying “my poor baby.” After leaving the inspection station, I took a wrong turn and ended up at Floral Park Cemetary, where my dad is buried. I drove in, parked and found my father’s grave. As I approached his grave, I looked up and perched on a berry tree, directly behind his stone, was a plump, blue jay. It was almost as if it was waiting for me. I sat down at my dad’s grave and stared at this blue jay. I wondered why out of all of the berry trees along this row, why the blue jay happened to be sitting behind my dad’s grave. The blue jay was perched on this tree during the entire time that I sat in the cemetery.

I couldn’t wait to call my friends and family and tell them what had happened. Is it a coincidence? Some would absolutely say yes. Is it symbolic of my dad still being around in some way? Some people would also agree. I hope so...

Sarah