By Grace

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The news of my beloved son John, aged 25 passing unexpectedly was shattering, devastating. After all his friends and my friends came by the house... 300 or more, lit and let off hundreds of chineese lanterns, I spent a week in bed. I slept on a mattress I had out on my deck and only left the mattress to use the bathroom to puke or pee. Splashing my face with some water so I didn't dehydrate. I didn't eat or leave the bed.

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All day as I cried, slept, and stared into space I was thought I was alone, but I was not.

Every time I looked up I saw a red dragonfly on a branch of a tree overhanging above my deck. It hardly moved from the branch it sat on, other than lifting up to buzz in a little circle and land back down again to look at me.

 

For seven days the red dragonfly was a loyal visitor, he reminded me of John with his red Novembeard. I am sure it was John coming back to comfort me... and he did.

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The eigth day the red dragonfly was gone... so I decided to drive into the city and purchase a youth outreach in honor of John... John's Place. After we closed on the property I hiked Mount Olympus, where John and I hiked just a week before he passed. 

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I felt alone without John, but I wasn't alone, the red dragonfly came back... and he brought THOUSANDS of his friends with him.

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