The Birdies
THE BIRDIES
This is a true story that occurred in 1994
Throughout our lives we are blessed with spiritual
experiences, some of which are very sacred and confidential, and
others,although sacred, are meant to be shared.
Last summer my family had a spiritual experience that had a lasting
and profound impact on us, one we feel must be shared. It's a message
of love. It's a message of regaining perspective, and restoring proper
balance and renewing priorities. In humility, I pray that I might, in
relating this story, give you a gift my little son, Brian, gave our
family one summer day last year. On July 22nd I was enroute to Washington
DC for a business trip. It was all so very ordinary, until we landed in
Denver for a plane change. As I collected my belongings from the overhead
bin, an announcement was made for Mr. Lloyd Glenn to see the United
Customer Service Representative immediately. I thought nothing of it
until I reached the door to leave the plane and I heard a gentleman asking
every male if they were Mr. Glenn. At this point I knew something was
wrong and my heart sunk.
When I got off the plane a solemn-faced young man came toward me
and said, "Mr.Glenn, there is an emergency at your home. I do not know
what the emergency is, or who is involved, but I will take you to the
phone so you an call the hospital.
My heart was now pounding, but the will to be calm took over.
Woodenly,I followed this stranger to the distant telephone where I
called the number he gave me for the Mission Hospital. My call was put
through to the trauma center where I learned that my three-year-old son
had been trapped underneath the automatic garage door for several minutes,
and that when my wife had found him he was dead. CPR had been performed
by a neighbor, who is a doctor, and the paramedics had continued the
treatment as Brian was transported to the hospital. By the time of my
call, Brian was revived and they believed he would live, but they did
not know how much damage had been done to his brain, nor to his heart.
They explained that the door had completely closed on his little sternum
right over his heart. He had been severely crushed. After speaking
with the medical staff, my wife sounded worried but not hysterical,
and I took comfort in her calmness. The return flight seemed to last
forever, but finally I arrived at the hospital six hours after the garage
door had come down. When I walked into the intensive care unit, nothing
could have prepared me to see my little son laying so still on a great
big bed with tubes and monitors everywhere. He was on a respirator. I
glanced at my wife who stood and tried to give me a reassuring smile.
It all seemed like a terrible dream. I was filled-in with the details and
given a guarded prognosis. Brian was going to live, and the preliminary
tests indicated that his heart was ok, two miracles in and of themselves.
But only time would tell if his brain received any damage.
Throughout the seemingly endless hours, my wife was calm. She felt
that Brian would eventually be all right. I hung on to her words and
faith like a lifeline. All that night and the next day Brian remained
unconscious.
It seemed like forever since I had left for my business trip the day
before. Finally at two o'clock that afternoon, our son regained
consciousness and sat up uttering the most beautiful words I have ever
heard spoken. He said, "Daddy hold me" and he reached for me with his
little arms. [TEAR BREAK...smile] By the next day he was pronounced as
having no neurological or physical deficits, and the story of his
miraculous survival spread throughout the hospital. You cannot imagine our
gratitude and joy. As we took Brian home we felt a unique reverence for
the life and love of our Heavenly Father that comes to those who brush
death so closely.
In the days that followed there was a special spirit about our home.
Our two older children were much closer to their little brother. My wife
and I were much closer to each other, and all of us were very close as a
whole family. Life took on a less stressful pace. Perspective seemed to
be more focused, and balance much easier to gain and maintain. We felt
deeply blessed. Our gratitude was truly profound. [The story is not
over](smile)
Almost a month later to the day of the accident, Brian awoke from
his afternoon nap and said, "Sit down mommy. I have something to tell
you. At this time in his life, Brian usually spoke in small phrases, so
to say a large sentence surprised my wife. She sat down with him on his
bed and he began his sacred and remarkable story. "Do you remember
when I got stuck under the garage door? Well it was so heavy and
it hurt really bad. I called to you, but you couldn't hear me. I started
to cry, but then it hurt too bad. And then the 'birdies' came." "The
birdies?" my wife asked puzzled. "Yes," he replied. "The birdies made a
whooshing sound and flew into the garage. They took care of me." "They
did?" "Yes" he said. "One of the birdies came and got you. She came to
tell you I got stuck under the door." A sweet reverent feeling filled
the room. The spirit was so strong and yet lighter than air. My wife
realized that a three-year-old had no concept of death and spirits, so
he was referring to the beings who came to him from beyond as "birdies"
because they were up in the air like birds that fly. "What did the birdies
look like?" she asked. Brian answered, "They were so beautiful. They were
dressed in white, all white.
Some of them had green and white. But some of them had on just
white." "Did they say anything?" "Yes" he answered. "They told me the baby
would be alright." "The baby?" my wife asked confused. And Brian answered.
"The baby laying on the garage floor." He went on, "You came out and
opened the garage door and ran to the baby. You told the baby to stay and
not leave."
My wife nearly collapsed upon hearing this, for she had indeed gone
and knelt beside Brian's body and seeing his crushed chest and recognizable
features, knowing he was already dead, she looked up around her and
whispered, "Don'tleave us Brian, please stay if you can." As she listened
to Brian telling her the words she had spoken, she realized that the spirit
had left his body and was looking down from above on this little lifeless
form. "Then what happened?" she asked. "We went on a trip." he said,
"far, far away." He grew agitated trying to say the things he didn't seem
to have the words for. My wife tried to calm and comfort him, and let him
know it would be okay.
He struggled with wanting to tell something that obviously was very
important to him, but finding the words was difficult. "We flew so
fast up in the air. They're so pretty Mommy." he added. "And there is lots
and lots of birdies." My wife was stunned. Into her mind the sweet
comforting spirit enveloped her more soundly with an urgency she had
never before known. Brian went on to tell her that the 'birdies'
had told him that he had to come back and tell everyone about the "bridies".
He said they brought him back to the house and that a big fire truck,
and an ambulance were there. A man was bringing the baby out on a white bed
and he tried to tell the man that the baby would be okay, but the
man could not hear him.
He said the birdies told him he had to go with the ambulance, but
they would be near him. He said they were so pretty and so peaceful,
and he didn't want to come back. And then the bright light came. He said
that the light was so bright and so warm, and he loved the bright light so
much.
Someone was in the bright light and put their arms around him, and
told him,"I love you but you have to go back. You have to play
baseball, and tell everyone about the birdies".
Then the person in the bright light kissed him and waved bye-bye.
Then woosh, the big sound came and they went into the clouds. The story
went on for an hour.
He taught us that "birdies" were always with us, but we don't see them
because we look with our eyes and we don't hear them because we listen with
our ears. But they are always there, you can only see them in here (he put
his hand over his heart). They whisper the things to help us to do what
is right because they love us so much. Brian continued, stating, "I have
a plan, Mommy. You have a plan. Daddy has a plan. Everone has a plan.
We must all live our plan and keep our promises. The birdies help us to do
that cause they love us so much." In the weeks that followed, he often came
to us and told all, or part of it again and again. Always the story
remained the same. The details were never changed or out of order. A few
times he added further bits of information and clarified the message he
had already delivered. It never ceased to amaze us how he could tell such
detail and speak beyond his ability when he spoke of his "birdies."
Everywhere he went, he told strangers about the "birdies".
Surprisingly,no one ever looked at him strangely when he did this. Rather,
they always got a softened look on their face and smiled. Needless to say,
we have not been the same since that day, and I pray we never will be.
by Lloyd Glen
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