Dawn! Yay, I'm so happy to hear from you! I've missed ya bunches, where ya been?
I've never heard that Fairies appear to give you "something else to think about". Thanks for the validation that she was there just for me, & as a direct response to my thought. YOU made MY day, just by sharing that w/me!

Oh Dawn, if I could only describe the feeling of having to force myself to leave her. It was so difficult, but when she flapped her wings that one last time, I kind of felt like she was giving me permission to go. I don't know if "permission" is an accurate word, but somehow I know by flapping her wings that last time, she was saying "It's OK, we've met & shared a special moment, now go on home w/your family & don't forget me.". And forget her, I never will.

Thanks so much for your enthusiasm over my beautiful experience.It makes it that much sweeter for me! And thanks for the tip on why she came, I'll remember to keep that in mind in the future, what helpful lil friends they are indeed. Love 'em to pieces!

Oh my gosh! I think you just helped me figure out the reason for my last fairy encounter. I've only had one other 'up close' experience w/a fairy, & until just now, I didn't even know that it was an intended visit. I thought it was just a chance sighting, but now, since knowing what you told me about them trying to give you something else to think about, I totally KNOW that it MEANT for me to see it! This is what happened...

In early January of this year, I was out at my sister's helping her pack up her house to move. To set the right tone of this experience, I'll have to go into some personal details here, I hope you don't mind. In June of 08, we lost our mom, pretty violently. It's been hard for all of us, but this year it's been especially hard for my sister Jen. She was in the middle of planning her wedding when we lost mom. On top of that, she had just found out w/in the past couple of years, that she couldn't have children due to a bout of cancer she had recently fought a battle with & won when she was just 25 yrs old. She ended up postponing the wedding for a year, but now had to re-plan the entire thing over again dis-including my mom. I can't even imagine how hard that was for her. It didn't really even register to me until the day of her wedding, as I walked down the main isle to take my seat in the Bride's section for family. As I'm sure you're aware, the Bride & Groom's immediate families always sit in the very first row of the church pews on both the right & left sides of the main isle. The parents of the bride & groom traditionally take the first two seats closest to the isle on their respective sides. Well I get to the front of the isle on the bride's side, and the very first thing I see is the first two seats of the pew...empty. This was where my mom & dad were to be seated, but all that sat there were two empty seats with two white lilies in their place. It was at that moment that I began to understand how hard this day was going to be on my little sister.

Needless to say, it was a bittersweet day for all of us. Every picture that was taken that day, was just another reminder that someone very special was missing from that picture. We all got through it though, I truly believe that both of my parents were there w/all of us that day, they wouldn't have missed this for anything in the world...or even anything 'other-worldly' for that matter! I felt them there every moment.

OK, so in September the wedding went off w/out a hitch. 3 weeks later, Jen finds out that she's pregnant!!! What a blessing & a miracle! But for Jen, yet another bittersweet experience. See, I got to enjoy having my mom around for my entire pregnancy, not to mention she & my son Spencer (once born), ended up creating a bond that lasted for 5 wonderful years until she was taken from us. He has memories of her, he had a relationship w/her, he KNEW her. Jen was aware that this would never be the case with her pregnancy or with her baby, once he was here. We were all aware of it. From this point on, I decided that as the new matriarch of this family, I was going to take mom's place for Jen throughout this pregnancy. I would be her caretaker, I would come over w/groceries, & clean & do laundry & cook her comfort foods. I would be the one she leaned on.

That was September & October, then in November Jen's husband John found out that he has Spinal Synopsis. It's a birth defect that didn't show itself until this past November when he could no longer walk erect. He now walks at a permanent 90 degree angle, he is only 30 yrs old. He looks like a huge upside down 'L' when he walks. Unfortunately, there's not much they can do for him aside from meds & physical therapy, that their insurance doesn't cover much of. There is surgery, but it is said to cause more damage than repair in most cases & the doctor doesn't recommend it. He's been home from work since November with no pay. So now they're expecting this baby, he can't work, there's no cure in sight, & now Jen has to pick up more days at work just to make ends meet, when she was supposed to be cutting back her hours at work to avoid a complications during her pregnancy. If you think it couldn't get any worse, you're wrong! In December they decided to move closer to us so we could help out during the pregnancy & once the baby came. They found a great place that would put them 20 mins away from us (we now live about an hour & a half from each other). Moving day was the second wk-end in January. The last week in December, the deal for the new house had fallen through. To make things worse, they had already given their notice to their current landlord, & she had already found new renters. They were now w/out a place to live & only had 2 weeks to find one & get out.

OK, so now back to January & packing to move. My husband Karl, my son & I all rushed out on a work & school night for all of us to go help Jen & John pack up the house. They had found a new place within 2 days of loosing the other one. Unfortunately, this house would put them even further away from us then they already were by an extra 15 mins. This was more than I could bear. I already wasn't able to take part in her pregnancy as much as I had vowed myself to, because of the miles between us, now it was going to be even harder to get to her. We had been there packing for most of the night we were all exhausted, but she looked like a walking corpse. She was so exhausted from all of this stress, the extra hours at work, having an invalid husband for the past 2 months, not having enough rest or help so that she could take care of herself. As the night neared an end my husband & I had packed up 8o% of the house & I still felt guilty for leaving, but Spencer had school in the morning & both Karl & I had to work. Karl stepped out side to go start the car. I followed him out to get some fresh air, it was freezing, but I needed it, I felt overwhelmed w/guilt for leaving, I felt overwhelmed w/worry because now they were forced to move to a house w/less space & higher rent even further away from us. How was I going to help lighten her load if I'm now an hour & 45 mins away from her at any given moment? Hadn't our family been through enough in the last yr & a half? Couldn't just one thing go as planned, would that be too much to ask for? How much can we possibly handle for goodness sake! A death, a somber wedding, a bittersweet pregnancy, a life long ailment w/potentially no cure, the loss of a house, being forced into a house that is too much - too little - & too far away, being over worked, not getting enough rest. I was honestly so fed up, frustrated & scared thinking about this whole last year & a half, that I felt like if I didn't get some fresh air, I was going to suffocate! I felt the tears well up in my eyes as I looked at my sister's packed house, knowing she would now be further from me. I couldn't let her see me cry, I had to be strong for her. As Karl opened the sliding door to go start the car, I slid past him so fast I almost knocked him over! I had to get out there before the tears came, I couldn't let her see.

Karl made it out directly after me, but trying not to make it look obvious that I was upset. It's amazing how after being married & sharing a life for 10 years, how little a spouse has to say to their mate to communicate. He didn't even ask what was wrong w/me, he just simply came over to where I was standing, wrapped his arms around me & said, "I know, it'll be OK though, we'll just have to try harder.". He knew, I didn't have to say a word. He turned to go up the hill & start the car. As I stood out on my sister's deck looking out over the beautiful lake that she lived on, it started to snow. How beautiful a sight this was. There was already a thick snow cover from the previous day. But now, with everything already covered in a gorgeous white blanket of snow, the new fresh falling snow just added to the beauty of this picture perfect setting. The lake had completely frozen, & it was now just a glistening shinny surface with a back drop of snow covered pines & weeping willows surrounding it, as if hugging the lake to keep it warm. All of the foliage was kissed w/snow. As the fresh kisses fell from the sky, the tears poured down my face. My head was filled with so much chatter & worry, my heart filled w/so much ache. I looked down to grab a wadded up tissue from my coat pocket to wipe my nose. Just as I looked back up from this, it flew in front of my face! Not more than 3 feet away from me at eye level, a fairy zipped by me, from the right to the left then disappeared into the falling snow. It was awesome! Maybe 'zipped' is overstating the speed. It more like fluttered, but not in the wobbly motion that a butterfly would, in a straight line but at 'flutter' speed. It was slow enough that I could actually see the knobs of the lower placed knees again & one curved foot. As it almost completely passed me, I caught a glimpse of the back of the head & the left arm (arms that seemed too long BTW, but still proportionate to the body). I could also again hear the very distinct flutter of it's wings, so different from the sound of any other type of wings. When I said it disappeared into the air & falling snow, I mean it literally disappeared! It was a clear night, I was able to see all the way across the lake even w/the snow falling. When it disappeared, it just vanished into thin air, even though I could still see very well beyond were it had been. My heart stopped! I knew what I had just seen, there was no mistaking this for an insect...not in early January. The only bird that was still around the lake this time of year was the Grey Haring & even it's smallest hatchlings are gigantic compared to what had just flown by. It doesn't even matter what time of year it was, or whether it could have been a bird or bug. Because no bird or bug that I know of has ARMS!

I was speechless but sure of what I had just seen. I stayed out there until Karl came back down the hill from starting the car. When he got to the deck & told him what had just happened, he said "Well look at this place, all this nature; fairy central.". Gosh I love my husband.

All night I had dreaded the ride home because I knew my poor husband was going to have a basket-case sitting in the passenger seat, that he was going to have to console & pep-talk. I just knew that THIS little piggy was going to cry All the way home. I also knew that after that much crying, I would inevitably end up with a migraine from hell that would prevent me from getting a decent night's rest.But instead, all the way home I thought about that fairy & the similarities that it had to the one I saw on Elm street. I could barely contain my excitement, that not only was I lucky enough to see such a beautiful creature once, up close, but TWICE in one lifetime! There was no crying, there was no headache, no somber mood in the car. Just pure excitement! I couldn't stop smiling all the way home. When I got in the door, I had a good night's sleep. And in the morning, when I awoke for work, the first thing I thought about was my lil fairy, then my lil fairiES! It was going to be a good day.

Thank you Dawn for making me realize that there was nothing of 'chance' about that encounter. I now KNOW that it too was intended, just as the Elm street encounter was. And I would have never put that together had it not been for you. Now both of these encounters have so much more meaning, it makes it personal for me. I can't thank you enough for that. Bless you so much!