For the Birds

Sue used to bring her cell phone to work. Instead of the normal ring or ringtone when it went off, it sounded like a bunch of birds in her pocket. We always used to chuckle about it, as she stepped away from the counter to talk to her son or husband for a moment. Some time ago she used to sing this silly song with another coworker about 'Flying birds over the ocean....' and always off key but always amusing.

The day of Sue's passing another coworker and I were standing at the Courtesy Desk and remembering how Sue's phone would go off and the sounds of birds making us chuckle. We got some customers and went back to work, when all of a sudden the loudest bird chirping you ever would hear came from across the store by the check outs. My coworker looked at me, and said, "Did you hear that?" I said, "Sounded like birds." Just a few moments later it happened again, as LOUD as you could imagine, the chirping of birds! We both knew that Sue was letting us know that she was alright and that she was safely on the Other Side. It was a great comfort to hear those birds chirping, even though it was just some guy making bird calls and one of the most difficult days of my life. After Sue's memorial service we were walking away and the loudest Mocking Bird began to squawk from the top of a nearby tree. I looked around the entire cemetary and there were no other birds visable in the trees...only the one by her gravesite, and he was singing at the top of his lungs. I snapped his picture and had to stop and watch him for a moment.....as he was a reminder to me and to all who heard him that Sue was with us and always would be!