The Dragonfly and Porter Flying Free

The night before Kali and I left for Boston, (the trip Porter was anticipating with much eagerness), the Farnworth family came over to visit. Heidi and Lindsay gave us a very sweet gift to remind us of Porter and to keep him close in our memory. They had made these beautiful dragonfly necklaces, one for me and one for Kali. The poem they shared with us is tender and when I read it I cried tears of sadness for my loss, yet felt joy, too, for Porter, knowing that he is flying happy and free now. Is it possible to feel both joy and sadness at the same time? My heart still aches and yearns for my boy to be here, but I know he is feeling so much peace and joy where he is and his life here has been fulfilled. 

 Thank you Heidi and Lindsay for this priceless gift!


The Dragonfly

Once, in a little pond, in the muddy water under the lily pads,
there lived a little water beetle in a community of water
beetles.  They lived a simple and comfortable life in the pond
with few disturbances and interruptions.

Once in a while, sadness would come to the community when one of
their fellow beetles would climb the stem of a lily pad and
would never be seen again.  They knew when this happened; their
friend was dead, gone forever.

Then, one day, one little water beetle felt an irresistible urge to climb up that stem.  However, he was determined that he would
not leave forever.  He would come back and tell his friends what
he had found at the top.

When he reached the top and climbed out of the water onto the
surface of the lily pad, he was so tired, and the sun felt so
warm, that he decided he must take a nap.  As he slept, his body
changed and when he woke up, he had turned into a beautiful
blue-tailed dragonfly with broad wings and a slender body
designed for flying.

So, fly he did!  And, as he soared he saw the beauty of a whole
new world and a far superior way of life to what he had never
known existed.

Then he remembered his beetle friends and how they were thinking
by now he was dead.  He wanted to go back to tell them, and
explain to them that he was now more alive than he had ever been
before.  His life had been fulfilled rather than ended.

But, his new body could not go down into the water.  He could
not get back to tell his friends the good news.  Then he
understood that their time would come, when they, too, would
know what he now knew.  So, he raised his wings and flew off
into his joyous new life!
 

~Author Unknown~

I love you Porter♥