The White Feather
Three and a half years ago I lost my beautiful mum to cancer. She battled HARD for three months as the cancer spread through her body and took with it most of her faculties (this was her worst nightmare coming true). In her final days she was literally skin and bone, incontinent and in the foulest of moods (not that you can blame her).
Prior to her diagnosis she hadn’t been herself and it was obvious something wasn’t quite right. I thought that she was suffering from anxiety and depression because she had recently relocated back to Australia from Indonesia and her husband was commuting back and forth. This was a BIG life change, and she was essentially doing it ‘on her own’. She missed her husband greatly and logically I thought it was understandable she wasn’t a hundred percent.
When she returned to Australia her dogs were also repatriated however during their stint in quarantine in Malaysia it was discovered that her Rottweiler had a tick disease which meant he couldn’t enter the country. Mum was devastated however her Great Dane (Winter) landed safely providing some comfort. A short time later, Winter became unwell and had to be euthanized (heart break)
Moving countries is hard! Without your husband….and then one of your fur babies is stuck in no-man’s land and there is nothing you can do and then the only comfort you have is taken from you! This was a copious amount of stress on the body, and I believe it contributed to her body going into a state of “dis-ease”.
After Mum passed away and I was coming to terms with the loss I saw a mystic who told me that when I see a white feather it is a symbol, a sign of my mum’s presence. A reminder that she is always with me. I now realise that this is a ‘universal sign’ with the intent to provide comfort to those in grief but my eyes are still always open…..looking for the white feather!
Living in a coastal city, close to local waterways there are a couple of species of white birds that are plentiful, namingly seagulls and the sulphur-crested cockatoo. As such, there are white feathers to be found/ seen floating in the water, resting on jetties, in local parks etc. When I see these feathers my logical mind says, ‘yes, but……so it doesn’t count’. This happens frequently and in my mind I have said to the universe, ‘if it is a true sign, it must be somewhere obscure where there are no seagulls/ cockatoos’. This white feather debate had been going on for about two years as I dismissed all of the feathers I was seeing as ‘not signs’ because they were from local bird life which didn’t count (haha).
One Wednesday morning, driving back from dropping my bonus son at his mother’s house, I was driving on the freeway in peak hour traffic (bumper to bumper) and I looked across at the car beside me and would you believe……There it was…A white feather stuck to the side of the car and I thought ‘wow, if that is not a SIGN I don’t know what is’. Acknowledging that indeed this was a bona fide sign I felt the warm gooey feeling of comfort, that my mum was indeed with me as I had always hoped that she was. The story doesn’t end here…..
Shortly after the white feather on the car event, sitting in the lounge dining/area at home, a white bird (not a cockatoo or seagull) flew onto our balcony. It wasn’t the most graceful of landings and we devised a ‘story’ (us humans can’t help but devise a story for most things if you hadn’t noticed) that she was someone’s pet bird that had flown away. Or she was one of those doves released at weddings (she has that beautiful little mane at the back of her neck) that hadn’t quite made it back where she was supposed to.
We rushed out some water, raced to the local grocery shop to buy some bird seed and proceeded to take care of her over the next few days. She was there, on the balcony, day and night during this time. After consulting google, we classified her as a White Dove which in actual fact is a white feral pigeon that is not native to Australia (lol). My daughter named her Glory, and it was official – we had the perfect bird pet – uncaged!
After a few days, she flew away and we were convinced she wouldn’t return (those stories again) but low and behold back she came, day after day after day and we continued to feed her and give her fresh water. My husband located where she goes to ROOST each night – a not so glamourous roof gutter where she is protected from the wind and where she can watch the sun rise and set (she literally faces in that direction) from the top of the roof pitch. We have thought about getting her a mate and building a little bird aviary where they can come and go but will be protected (locked away) at night. We will decide on this in the coming months.
The point of my story…. it’s full of white feathers and certainly is not common (classified as feral…lol). There are literally white feathers, of all shapes and sizes, everywhere and I have to believe that this bird is an absolute sign/ reminder that my mum is ALWAYS with me.
RIP my beautiful mum, Audrey. We will always love you and carry your memory in our hearts!
I wonder, do you believe in signs?
Please get in touch with your own personal stories – I’d love to hear them!
