Story of the Week, July 18 2009 Vision of Deirdre
Hello, angel lovers. Hope you are having a relaxed July. For a heavenly hug, click on this link:
http://www.goodnewsonlynetwork.com/Religion Perhaps it will remind you of a certain song?
And here’s our story:
Deirdre Mary McCormick, of Santa Rosa, California, was the fifth of ten children. She had long curly brown hair, green eyes and a gentle disposition. People were attracted to her beauty, says her mother Patricia, “but it was her sweetness that held their hearts.” The family was thrilled to have another daughter (they have seven sons), and Deirdre had many friends, a large extended family, happy days in St. Eugene’s Cathedral school and even a sideline interest—Irish dancing. An idyllic life, and then tragedy struck. “We were at her father’s company picnic at Lake Sonoma,” Patricia says. “She was swimming with her brother, sister and cousin, and while trying to lift herself out of the water, she touched faulty wiring on the dock and was killed instantly.” Deirdre was ten years old.
The entire school and parish of St.Eugene’s rallied around the grief-stricken family. Food, care of the children, whatever was needed they gave, and over 800 people attended the funeral. Despite the kindnesses shown to the family, Patricia was devastated. She had just discovered that a new baby was on the way, and Dierdre would have been so delighted if she knew. Now her daughters would never meet, at least not here on earth… “We are Catholics and we believe in the promise of eternity that jesus grants to all who follow him and try to live accordingly,” says Patricia. But faith can often be overshadowed by grief. And then, of course, someone was legally liable for the faulty wiring and perhaps they would have to institute a lawsuit. Patricia did not know how she was going to get through all of it.
On the Monday after the first Thanksgiving without Deirdre, the children had gone back to school, Patricia’s husband Marty was at work, and the two preschoolers were still asleep. Patricia read the newspaper, waiting for the boys to awaken, and enjoyed the few minuites of solitude. “About 9 am I sat back on the couch and put my feet up,thinking about the day ahead,” she says. “When I closed my eyes,it was as if a tunnel opened and I was looking at my Deirdre. She was sitting on a beautiful,powerful white horse. I have never seen a horse like this before or since.”
Deirdre was wearing a lavender gown,gathered at the neck, waist,and wrists, and was barefoot. Her hair was in braids and she had a great big smile on her face. Patricia could see little tendrils of hair that had escaped from her braids curling around her forehead. She could see her daughter’s freckles and the small birthmark she had on her chin. Deirdre was healthy,happy, suntanned,and alive!
How could this be happening? It seemed so real, and yet the vision was inside her, not outside. Patricia also realized that it did not seem that Deirdre was aware of her mother, but that Patricia was being permitted to look at her. “There was a child on the back of the horse with her,holding on to her waist,”Patricia remembers. “There were children running along either side of the horse too. Deirdre raised her right hand,and tapped the horse to get it to go even faster.” She didn’t seem the least afraid.
For a moment, Patricia stole a glance at the surroundings. Tall grass, almost a golden shade, a perfectly-blue sky and a magnificent tree, a variety that Patricia had never seen. She tried to look at the children who were with Deirdre, but their faces seemed blurry. Perhaps she was not to know their identities.
As quickly as the tunnel had opened, it closed, and Patricia heard her boys running down the stairs. Her heart pounding, she opened her eyes. What had just happened to her? She called Marty at work and tried as best she could to describe what had happened.
“I believe this vision was a gift from God because of all the prayers we received from family,friends,and even strangers who had heard about Deirdre,” she says. “We chose to forgive those responsible for her death because it’s what she would expect from us. We have tried to honor her memory by helping others in her name.” They know they will see their child again.
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Comments
Dear Joan. Patty MCcormick is my sister and of course Deirdre Mary was my niece. I can’t begin to tell you how the death of Dierdre rocked our whole family. Its been 11 years since her passing and i don’t think a day goes by that all of us in the family still think of her. I believe my sister Patty and her husband Marty made her death easier for all of us because thier faith in God is so strong. I along with many others in the family had a hard time understanding how God could take such a wonderful child such as Deirdre away from Patty and Marty. In the weeks and months following Deirdres passing i came to realize how ones love and faith in God can get one through even the most difficult of times. Patty and Marty taught me that. If God wanted this child so young then there really must be angels. HE has a special one in Deirdre Mary. Regards, Brian Robinson
dear joan ,
deirdre mary was my cousin and when i found out my heart broke in pieces , i couldn’t believe such a sweet person could be gone , it was really hard and i worried for my relatives the mcCormicks , i think the streng they had in god , helped them and after aunt patty experienced a miracle about deirdre mary . i was amazed and glade aunt patty experince what she did , it helped a lot as well and like my dad said in his comment , oh brian robinson is my dad. there strength in god helped us with this tragedy , i still think about my cousin all the time , i even talk to her before i go to sleep sometimes. i believed deirdre was more then a person , she was a angel , she had such a beautiful spirit it light up a room. i had a hard time understanding why god took her away , i was even angry at god but i think aunt patty’s and uncle marty’s love for god and deirdre mary telling me she’s okay and that god wanted her to come home , becuase she had such a beautiful soul , it was like she had a soul of an angel , so thank you for doing this for the mcCormicks .
sincerely meghan robinson
The story of little Deirdre is sad. I am glad that her Mum received a moment of perfect peace. I once worked with a woman who had lost her 14-year-old daughter to a debilitating illness. She was devastated. Like Mary McCormick, my co-worker had an experience of her daughter “on the other side”, although the experience was much different than that of Mary. That event brought inner peace and enabled her to resume the normal activities of life. That is not to say one ever forgets, or that love for those who have passed is diminished. In the year 2000, my daughter-in-law passed of a brain tumor. The night before she died, I had a dream of hundreds of white doves flying away from me and into a clear blue horizon. I awakened immediately, knowing what it meant. The next day, I received the telephone call.
What we perceive in this life as “heaven” may be far more, and perhaps very different than minds are able to conceive during our walk on Planet Earth. It appears when people have experiences, such as Mary McCormick’s, they just happen, and they happen without warning. Comforting dreams, visions, events of the supernatural, are very real when experienced. The memories of such moments stay.