Your heart touched my heart – My wife of over 50 years died on November 7th last year. Needless to say, I’ve had many struggles over the last 5 months attempting to come to terms with the loss of my soulmate. We were together for over 52 years and spent our entire adult lives together.
I’m currently attending a large Jeeping event in Moab, Utah. I spent last Tuesday alone on a remote trail and had several emotional episodes during the day. At one point, I stopped for almost an hour and asked my beloved to let me know she was okay, that she was at peace, and that she was still with me. I prayed for a sign, any sign, that would tell me that she was all right.
This afternoon I was running Cameo Cliffs, another remote trail alone and, once again, I prayed for some sign that Carol was still with me. A spur off of the main trail went steeply downhill to a point above Wilson Arch, a unique photo op. I wasn’t planning on taking that spur because of warnings about the steep down slope above the observation point. I stopped at the intersection to mark the turn and, without thinking about it, I turned down the spur and followed it to the end.
The view was spectacular and while moving to get a different shot, I saw something white on a branch of a tree blowing in the breeze. I first thought it was some item of trash, perhaps a white plastic bag, and went to remove it as trail trash. As I got closer I was surprised to see that it was not a plastic bag but some kind of cloth, perhaps a baby’s cap. Nope, it was a quilted heart.
I removed it from the tree branch, tossed it in the Jeep, and returned to the main trail. When I got back in the Jeep after checking for any possible damage, I was drawn to the heart. I picked it up and read the two attached cards — I felt like I was struck by lightening! THIS was my answer. THIS was Carol’s sign that she was at peace, out of pain, and still with me! I sat there and cried tears of joy. A weight was lifted from my heart and a profound peace came over me.
You see, Carol loved hearts; red ones, pink ones, white ones, grey ones, blue ones; her favorite sweat pants were grey with pink hearts. As I stood over her at the moment that she passed, I felt her pass through my heart. I had my wedding band mounted around hers and they hang on a chain over my heart. After praying for a sign, here it was — in the middle of the Utah desert at the end of a spur off a remote trail where she led me to find her message.
I don’t know the angels that placed the heart there, but I know I was led to it by eternal love. I will keep this quilted heart near me for the rest of my life. I will be eternally grateful. You will never know how important that simple hand-sewn heart is or how it changed a grieving husband’s life.
Thank you.
