Sweet Messengers
Christmas was still a long was off when Lori Poczekaj’s father became ill. Her mother rented a wheelchair and insisted on caring for him at home. “Dad was still very energetic,” Lori says. “We hoped he would have the strength to get well and spend many more holidays with us.”
Lori’s father had built the house the elderly couple lived in. It was on the edge of a field bordered with pine trees. “And although there were always animals around, during the twenty years they had lived in the house, they had seen a deer only twice,” Lori recalls. “It was odd, since the woods seemed like the perfect place for deer to live.” Now, as his world grew smaller, Lori’s father stayed in his wheelchair, looking out the dining room’s sliding glass doors.
Once his wife asked, “Wouldn’t you like to sit in the living room so you can watch the cars go by, and wave to our neighbors?”
“No, I’d rather sit here and look for animals,” he replied. “Maybe I’ll finally see some.”
When Lori’s mother told her abut the conversation, Lori went home and prayed. “I asked God to let my dad see a deer, the most tranquil of all animals, while he was sitting in that wheelchair,” she says. “I was very specific about it.”
When no deer appeared, Lori amended her prayer. “Okay, God,” she said. “How about any animal? A raccoon, opossum, even a neighbor’s cat? You know how much this would mean to Dad.”
But nothing happened, and eventually Lori’s father was confined to his bed. It was clear that her father wasn’t going to see any animals or celebrate another Christmas. Lori prayed, but now she was angry. “God, I know I’m not supposed to question my faith, but I’m having a hard time.” Would she have to wait until after her father died? Would God send a sign to let her know Dad was safe with Him?
Lori’s father died just before dawn one morning. An hour later, Lori and most of her seven brothers and sisters had assembled in the house, weeping or lost in a daze. Life would never be the same for any of them. Was Dad in heaven? How would they know?
Suddenly one of Lori’s brothers looked out the sliding glass doors. “Hey, everybody, come here!” he called.
Lori and the others went to the door. “Standing in the back yard, maybe twenty feet away, were ten or eleven deer,” Lori recalls. “None of us had seen them approach.” The animals stood motionless, facing the house, as if at attention. For a moment, they looked calmly at the hushed family. Then, as if their mission had been accomplished, they turned in unison and bounded away.
No one has seen the mysterious herd since. “But whenever I am missing my dad, I remember that morning and it always eases my mind,” says Lori. She knows without a doubt that her father celebrates Christmas every day.
© 1998 Joan Wester Anderson www.joanwanderson.com Originally appeared in Woman’s Day Magazine.
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God works in mysterious ways, I want to tell you how sorry about your father’s passing, I know it’s not easy dealing with the pain. I lost my dad October 28,2001 and I still think of him, we were very close. I do believe in miracles and strange things people say that other people would laugh at but I do believe you, which many may not, since I had a similiar experience when my dad passed not to do with animals, but my father wanted something before he passed and sorry to say it didn’t occur, after his passing the following day it did, if you would like me to get into further detail you can email me anytime but what happened that image will stay with me and my sister our entire life, my mother has her doubts and said you wanted it so much that you made yourself believe it happened but that was not the case it did and again I am sorry for your father’s passing. I just have one question if you don’t mind would you tell me what state you live in, if you want to know I am in Brooklyn, New York and my name is Michelle
I hope one day you see those deers again