Gifts From Joey

So... I'm not really one to be superstitious, overly sentimental, or anything like that.  However, a few really sweet things have happened since Joey's passing and I thought some of you would take joy in hearing about them.  Do I know for sure these stories are from Joey? No, of course not.  However, do I believe that Joey is really alive, much more so than before, and could possibly take the time to bring our family little messages of love? (Yes, of course!)

Mommy's Garden

We planted a square foot garden this past spring, with all kinds of wonderful fruits and veggies, right around the time Joey was conceived.  As the summer went on, Elisa and I would spend a few moments each day, checking out the progress, picking little weeds, and munching on a few ripe treats.  The garden made me think a lot of our coming baby, as I watched the new sprouts grow taller and bear fruit.

As the summer heat continued, however, the garden started to wilt and dry up, despite my efforts.  We then left for a long weekend, and the garden was nearly fried by the time we got back. Two days later, we found out about Joey's diagnosis and were devastated.  I couldn't bear to work in the garden anymore, and I felt it was perfectly symbolic that it had wilted away, right along with our hopes for baby Joey.

Well.. skip ahead to the day after Joey's birth.  Our neighbor was talking to Matt and they walked out back near the garden.  It was Oct 24th, and one perfect red strawberry was hanging over the edge of the garden in plain sight.  The neighbor saw it and said, "Hey it actually looks like a heart!" And it did. There was a little leaf sticking down just so, which made the strawberry look just like a heart.

It was also our first ripe strawberry of the year and the garden.  (We just put in the strawberry plants this summer and had been picking off the flowers so the plants would bear better fruit next year.)  So, to us, it was a beautiful symbol of Joey's new life in Heaven, and how his life has only just begun to bear fruit!

Daddy's Glasses

Well, if you're Catholic, you might be familiar with the practice of asking a saint to help you out with little things, like finding missing glasses.  We believe the saints can, if God allows them, help us out here below. (So, why not ask?)

Well, when Matt misplaced his glasses the other day, we looked around for about 15 min to no avail.  Matt was getting anxious to get to work, and so on the spur of the moment we decided to ask Joey for help.  Not even 10 seconds later, we walked back into the living room and there they were-- right on the top edge of the couch, where I thought we already looked!

Coincidence? Perhaps.  Love message from Joey? We prefer to think so!  (I can just imagine what Joey would have been like as a little boy, eager to please, and running all around the house to help find daddy's glasses!)

Grandma's Water

This story is from my mom, and she is really the opposite of overly-sentimental.  However, this one even choked her up.

Anyhow, my mom was helping us get ready for the day of Joey's funeral, and she had taken Elisa grocery shopping while Matt and I were making funeral arrangements.  We were planning to have folks over afterwards, and so mom was picking up food/drinks for the after party.  We knew that we didn't want to grieve all day, but that we wanted to celebrate Joey's little life, and the gift he had been to us already.

So, that being said, mom was debating whether to pick up a few water bottles for the guests or not.  She didn't feel like walking all the way to the back of the store, so she just decided to forget it.  At the last minute, she changed her mind and headed to get some.  What she saw next choked her up-- right on the top of the package, in huge letters, it said something like, "check out our new labels, where you can write your name like this... JOEY"!

Mom couldn't believe her eyes, and felt that Joey was saying to us, "It's ok! Go ahead and celebrate. I'm in Heaven and we're celebrating here too!"