Inspirational Stories

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January 2011 to June 2011
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Patricia, Melbourne, AUSTRALIA
When my dad passed away in the U.K eight years ago I struggled so very much. I could not accept his passing, I just cried all the time and could not let him go. About a year later I started having so many experiences with butterflies, I know they have always been around, but I was having them trying to come into my house, and everywhere I looked there seemed to be one. I found myself saying hi dad and just knew in my heart that it was him.

I went and had a small tattoo of a blue butterly put on my leg. I swear this gave me peace, and allowed me to let my dad go. I continue to have many many things happen, and everyone who knows me, say they cannot see a butterfly without thinking of me straight away.

Once one came into my house and stayed for four hours. I have it on video walking along the computer and just sitting on my hand. Another time I had new soft blue slippers on. I looked down and there was an imprint shape of a butterfly on the top. I took a picture thinking I was seeing things but when I showed family and said what do you think that is, they all said a butterfly.

I could go on forever telling you things that have only happened since I lost my dad. I would be here forever. Just know that this is a sign, and a lovely one at that. My house and garden are full of things with butterflies on. My favourite one is called Ulysses, it's a big blue butterfly that lives in Port Douglas the top of Australia. I was on a cruise five years ago and was visiting Port Douglas. I was excited that I might see Ulysses. We stopped at Airly beach which is a long long way from Port Douglas. We were near some flowers when all of a sudden this huge blue butterfly came right past my face and landed on a flower right in front of me. I knew straight away it was Ulysses ... the gardener who was there tending to the garden said ... WELL ... never in the sixteen years I have lived here have I seen a Ulysses butterfly so far down here ... it is way out of its area. He was really surprised. I just answered ... THATS BECAUSE I AM HERE ... IT'S MY DAD!
Teresa Hopper, Portland, OR
This is a true story that my 80 year old father told me about when he was a boy. My dad said one of the silly things he used to do as a kid was to sometimes put just a small dot of red nail polish on the back of a any random bee he saw in the yard. One day when he did this, his father came home from work (that was some 2-3 miles away from home) and said that a funny kind of thing happened to him that day. He said that a bee had landed on his arm, and when he looked at it before it took off, it had a red dot on it's back. He said all this not knowing that my dad had put that dot on there in the first place - he didn't know that my dad even did that for fun. Does God allow these things to happen to show us He is thinking about us, and our families' close ties and connections? I belive so. It is an amazing story that is more than 'chance'.
USA
On this Father's Day, I would like to reflect on a joyous time I had with my father some 45 years ago. On a warm summer's afternoon in the front yard, when I was about 6 years old, a magnificent thick stream of migrating monarch butterflies came flying through our yard low to the ground. For at least 20 minutes this rare delight of wave upon wave of butterflies came flowing through, and I danced like a happy fairy with my arms straight out twirling around all those beautiful wings of orange. They didn't seem to be afraid of me, they just kept going down their 'butterfly freeway". My dad was just as amazed as I was while we smiled and laughed with excitement at the beauty of this special appointement with nature God had arranged.

Ever since this happened I have kept my eyes open for anything like it - but I have never seen it again. It was a very sweet memory that my dear father and I had together that we will never forget. My dad turns 80 this year, and I have been so blessed to have him in my life.

(I wonder if this ancient migration route has stopped or continued through that childhood neighborhood of Mill Street in South East Portland, as it is all built up with houses now. Thank you for this opportunity to share. :)
USA
My story begins with my Mother passing in July 2010. She had a stroke and was careflighted to the hospital. There are ten of us kids all crowded in her room every day waiting and praying for her. Afterwards, I was home watching a jewelry show and a butterfly ring was shown. I decided to purchase it for me to wear in honor of my Mom.

My Mom died and then the ring came to the house. I decided to send the ring back and had it ready to ship back. My neighbors all chipped in and bought a tree to plant instead of sending flowers. I was watering the tree and this beautiful butterfly landed under the tree and just walked all around it next to me.

When my Mom died I asked her to come and visit me if she could and I didn't care what form she came to me but let me know. I really believe it was her because later I found out she had some butterfly magnets on her refrigerator. I have seen that same butterfly several times and know it is her. So I decided to keep the butterfly ring and get many compliments on it. I tell the story about the ring when someone asks me about it.
Christopher, Lindenhurst, NY
This certainly is one experience that I will never forget.

I was sitting on a deck while on a vacation in Boone North Carolina. I noticed a Monarch butterfly perched on the leg of a wicker chair across from me. It stayed there for a very long time. After about a half hour I suggested to a friend who was sitting on the deck with me we should take a picture of the butterfly. I picked up the chair and to my ammazement it still stayed in place as I brought the chair up close to my friend to take a picture. When taking the picture he noticed that the butterfly's legs were stuck in the caning of the chair. As I looked at it closely I could see the butterfly struggling to try and free itself. I turned the chair onto it's side, grabbed a small narrow leaf I found on the deck and was able to get the butterfly's legs free and released it.

As chance would have it he flew onto the deck and wound up getting its legs caught in between the boards of the decking. Again I was able to get him free and I brushed him off the deck and he gliddd away. All chance happenings, maybe but this is one I will never forget. What does it mean? When standing at the gates someday maybe the one who is deciding on which door I pass through will show some compassion as I did that beautiful evening. Makes one wonder.
Fabian, Miami, FL
Today at work, a beautiful green butterfly landed on my should. For a few seconds, I saw him coil his tongue, and stay there, then it flew around me and went away. In that moment, I called my partner, but he did not answer, so I called my mom, and she said that it means good luck, and I may have a visitor. I felt so good afterward. I felt my heart fill with joy, and peace.

This was the first time a butterfly landed on me. I thank God for this wonderful encounter with nature's own beauty.
Krystal, Shelby, MI
My mom passed away unexpectedly a month ago. We’ve seen butterflies, all yellow, around us. The one I saw was so beautiful, I’ve never seen anything like it. One landed on my sister-in-law's shoulder. One sat at our window for 4 days. I know it's my mom.
Kristina L, Sydney, AUSTRALIA
My mother passed away on 30 September 2008 from cancer at 65. Her favourite song to sing to her kids and grandkids was a song about a beautiful butterfly. The first November she passed away, a particular brown and orange butterfly constantly hung around out front footpath, circling us, waiting for us when we would come home or exit the house. It hung around for months that first year. Every year in November the same type of butterfly has done the same thing - it has followed us down our driveway, run into our car, turned up when beloved friends have visited - even my quite skeptical husband has been amazed! We have never seen butterflies behave in this way. I am so grateful for those butterfly visits.
Rich, USA
A few years ago I found out that my friend/mentor/teacher had advanced lung cancer and did not have long to live. He announced plans to travel to Jamaica to die (he didnt want to die in the apartment he shared with his wife and young daughter.)

I wrote him a letter telling him how much he meant to me and asked him to send me a sign if he could when he got to the other side, if there was one...

(Background info: my friend was my martial arts teacher, the ultimate level of our style is a free form improv called "baby chase butterfly")

So a few weeks after he passed I was outside practicing when I saw a large monarch across the yard ... my first instinct was to chase after it ala "baby chase butterfly", but I instantly heard my teachers voice in my head that told me to just stay still and practice my San Ti (which is a static standing posture). I did as instructed and immediately the butterfly began flying towards me, my amazement grew as it proceeded to encircle and then land on my head where it sat for a good minute before departing. I have always been a skeptic, but I was and am still certain that it was him.

When i relayed this story to his wife she broke out in goosebumps, nearly the same thing had happened to her at his funeral in Jamaica as well as outside her apartment in NYC(where there are not a whole lot of butterflies to begin with...
Linda Nicole Smith, Grand Prairie, TX
My grand father and I were very close. I never knew my real father and my Papa was everything to me. I told him all my life that "he was my daddy" and he was. He was my world.

In 2007 he was in a car wreck and he almost died, it was a miracle that my daddy walked me down the aisle on my wedding day 02-08-2008, The day after his birthday. Of course after that I MADE SURE to spend EVEN MORE time with him. In 2009, after having a "hernia" removed we found out it was cancer, the day after fathers' day. From then on my Papa went thru a tremendous battle with a cancer they couldn't find. It was horrible watching my daddy, my favorite person ever, suffer so much from this. Finally on April 2 2010, not even a year after his diagnoses, they found 2 large masses in his liver. There was nothing to be done to save him. I've known God all my life and have always believed my Papa was heaven sent JUST FOR ME!! I believed God would heal him for me, so when he passed away June 16 2010 at 11:55 I was absolutely shocked. I went to the house and watched them carry him out. I wanted to be brave so he would be proud of me. I was the only family member that could do it, shockingly enough.

The next morning I sat out side on my front pourch and I began to cry out to the Lord. I wasn't mad at God but I was scared. I didn't know how I was going to live with out the most important person in my life here with me. I was completely distraught. As I began to completely sob and sink deeper into a awful mental state, I FELT THE PEACE OF GOD SUDDENLY.

I looked up to see this beautiful Big Yellow Butterfly in front of me. Yellow was his favorite color. God saved me that day with a promise that I was going to make it.

I see my yellow butterflys exactly when I need them. On days the sorrow seems so hard to bear, My God reminds me of the love he has for me. It never fails and I'm reminded EVERYTIME of my Papa. I'm telling you I KNOW my friends and family thought I was crazy but over the recent months little by little, they have gotten the chance to see it with me.

I was on my way to the house to vist my mema (his wife) and saw the butterfly befor I left. I was a block away from her house and was rear ended at a red light. I wasn't hurt and there was no damage, my 3 girls were just a little shook. I pulled up to the house and told my mema what just happened. Standing in the front yard, my yellow butterfly flew by. I don't know what that means but I was blessed to know that my mema finally got to see it. God Bless you all!!!! and ***Thank GOD For Yellow Butterflies
Carol, Chandler, AZ
In March 2008, I was diagnosed with breast cancer stage 2B. During my chemo, I would sit on the patio every day. During that time, butterflies would surround me. Sometimes thy would come so close to my face that it would startle me. In Arizona, we do have butterflies, but they are not plentiful. My husband would sit out with me and they would not go near him; only me. This continued through my radiation therapy, which was over the beginning of September. The butterflies never came back. I sit on the patio almost daily and have not seen but one butterly since then in our backyard, and it did not come near me. I don't know the meaning, but it was wonderful. My brother, who was deceased at a young age, loved butterflies so much that he named his dog Butterfly. I like to think he was thinking of me.
Mona Lester, New Bloomfield, MO
My daughter Katey was killed by a drunk driver on 2/14/06. She was only 18. On her Birthday last year, my Mom was giving me a note that she had written for me. It said, "Butterflies are angels way of letting us know they are watching over us." Right at that moment, as I was reading the note, a beautiful Monarch butterfly flew into my face and fluttered every so softly. Then the butterfly flew into my Mom's face. We looked at each other with tears in our eyes. For as suddenly as it had appeared, it was gone. Just like our Katey.
Yvonne Didi, Tony's Wife, Agra, Uttar Pradesh, INDIA
I was expecting a beautiful baby who was due on the 13th of Dec 2010. He was already quite weighty and due to the discomfort I had after having pelvic exams, my doc okayed for an induction on 3rd as the baby was full term and I was already fully effaced. I also had exams within a week so it was okay for baby to come.

After 2 hours of labour that wasn't progressing, I was rushed for an emergency c-section. That was the beginning of a wonderful life, BABY ADRIAN joined our family. He was 4kgs and very healthy. His beautiful life ended on 4th January, exactly a month after he was born. I was broken hearted and felt helpless but that is when I remembered a lot of events that were related to death but I didn't expect baby Adrian to die.

On the last day before he passed on, a butterfly was flying around him. It was cold and I was wondering why it didn't move towards the warm bulbs. It followed me (I was carrying Adrian) wherever I went. I didn't think of killing it nor chasing it away. It was showing me my baby's transition into the afterlife. Whenever I'm sad, the same beige colored butterfly comes back home. It plays in the room. I saw it in my brother-in-laws room when I had gone to visit.

Adrian is always around, I can feel him and I dream about Him a lot especially when the butterfly comes. There are butteflies at his cemetery, and whenever I enter, they fly about playfully and land a few steps away from where Adrian sleeps. This is my comfort. He is a free spirit, free in the LOrd, free with nature.
Maryanne Lavallee, Blanc Sablon, Quebec, CANADA
My late husband was a big fan of butterflies, he just loved them, so much so that when he passed away of a very sudden and fatil heart attack at his funeral his mom, his sisters, my sisters, our daughter, son and myself all wore a butterfly on our jackets for him.

He died march 19th 2008. Missing him whole heartly my days were very long and lonely. That August as I was leaving my sisters house, who lives across the street about two doors down, I was feeling really sad. When I opened the door to leave this beautiful black and orange butterfly flew right across my nose, so close so that it made me jump back for a second then realizeing it was a butterfly I began laughing. My sister came to ask me what was going on. When I told her this she had to laugh too, for we both knew what this meant. I have no dought in my mind that it was my dear sweet Bruce coming to surprise me and make me smile. So on my walk back to my house the butterfly followed me to the door and all the way it would flutter around my head and then go a little ahead or stay a little behind and then come all around me again. I said out loud to the butterfly, "I know that it's you and you are playing around to try and make me feel better and believe me you did." My heart felt a whole lot lighter the rest of the day.

It seems that when I need a little bit of cheering up or reassurance, I always see a beautiful butterfly and I know its a sign from him ... R.I.P. my darling, until we meet again.
Jules Cannone, Prague, CZECH REPUBLIC
"It’s No Skin Off Your Proboscis": The proboscis on a butterfly (of the order Lepidoptera) is a slender tube that it uses to feed. I’m quite the butterfly enthusiast. I became particularly active in the world of ‘butterflying’ when I trekked through the Amazon Basin in the early 80s. Many of the indigenous cultures through the basin have a particular affinity with the butterfly. The romance of its flight and its startling beauty are representative of the glue that melds the fascination with the prettiness. I’m not a twitcher! If I heard there was a rare flight of ruby-spotted swallowtails circling the Museo Oro Precolombino in San Jose, Costa Rico - I’d pain with jealousy – but I wouldn’t commission the Learjet!

I once saw a glasswing on a Panama traverse. The Mexicans have long held a belief that to be caught in a flight of glasswings is beauty’s eternal blessing. Ah, to be kissed by the ‘espejitos’. But it’s not the symmetry of a leopard lacewing or the iridescence of the blue morpho that drives my true admiration for this weightless and timeless creature. Not that I’m worried you’d think of me as a ‘blue pansy’! No, this ‘common jezebel’ has a morbid interest in the less lovely variety of lepidoptera. The non-proboscis sporting butterfly, 'natura macellarius' or nature’s butcher. Evolution is at its cruellest in the regions where it’s toughest. The nature’s butcher is the brute of the deep recesses in the Amazon jungle. Close inspection reveals a tiny proboscis nestled neatly behind a powerful jaw. Comparatively, the bite force from the butcher is more impressive than the great white shark. If a great white could emulate the biting force of a nature’s butcher, it could chew a hole in a cargo ship!

The butcher, with its calamitous colouring, ragged forewings and over-developed hindwings is blatantly unattractive. There is no symmetry in the patterns on the wings – the tiny scales are poorly formed and there is no evidence of a lovely uniformity that the more exquisite varieties possess. The colouring and the veining are a haphazard mix of competing structures that seem only to conform to chaos. And while each butcher’s individual colouring and patterning is unique, they are roughly similar in size and shape and are characterised by a tiny proboscis and powerful bite.

The butcher, in its post-chrysalis state is a rabid carnivore. It hunts superbly in a pack or individually. Its traditional prey is other butterflies. Butchers attack at the hindwings until their more beautiful quarry is forced to land. At this point, the butcher will eat through the abdomen and the thorax - leaving a head, six legs and four wings that lay pristinely untouched. Butchers also attack much larger animals. A flight of butchers has been known to consume six metre anacondas in a matter of hours.

Ironically, it’s not the ferocity of the nature’s butcher or the remarkable ugliness of the animal that makes it intriguing. It’s the butcher’s death ritual. The average life of a butcher is two weeks. It spends ten of those days feeding. The remaining four days is spent planning its own death by accompanying another. In one of the more noble acts in all of the animal kingdom, a butcher will hunt for a dying blue morpho and tail it. In a relationship beyond anything comprehensible in the human world, the blue morpho will stand witness to a nature’s butcher preparing its death bed. In a simple, yet stunning act, the butcher will press its wings together and lie on its right side. It’s at the joining of the wings where all the vulgarness disappears. The awkward mess on both wings combine to form the most vivid patterning of all the butterflies. It’s at this point where the blue morpho will spread its striking wings and settle on the beautiful sacrifice laid out by one of nature’s more abhorrent creations. In a unifying act, both butterflies die simultaneously. A butcher that cannot locate a blue morpho is said to go through one of the most tormented deaths in the living world. The butcher’s true purpose in life is to provide a beautiful death for another.

Cynicism is a vice. It allows us to hoard negativity and house it in the messy rooms of our lives. It’s very easy to dwell on the unpleasant when we are confronted with behaviour beyond our comprehension. A nature’s butcher is more beautiful, in its own right, than anything else on the planet. Finding the good in others is its own reward. After-all, it’s no skin off your proboscis! Think on it with affection. Jules Cannone "
Jeff Sadlowski, Portland, OR
Some seven years ago my life changed dramatically with the death of my beloved friend of some 17 years! Death is hard on anyone with out a doubt. The friends and family left coping with their loss can indeed change one's life forever!suicide puts a whole new added twist to the already difficult and delicate situation! Too many questions unanswered, too many dreams and goals unfulfilled, too many spaces and gaps to fill! Only harder still to cope when there is no note left behind! Not knowing what your loved one was truly thinking and feeling at that final moment! I can only truly believe it is of being lonely and afraid to face only harder days to come! Seven years...and still no rest for my mind! Still no answers, and still distraught!

My biggest question to him was not so much why, but if he was OK on the other side! Had he finally found peace within his own self and God? This troubled me even more than not knowing why he had taken his own life! It was a couple of weeks or so later when I had gone back to work where my answers, or at least the one the was troubling me most. At the time I was working on a mowing crew using the big walk-behind and riding mowers. One crisp early morning as I am starting up one of the mowers, I found myself looking downward and just crying for my best friend! Was he OK? Did he make it to the promise land? As I'm thinking and crying for my dear friend, a huge monarch landed on the mower and was virtually sucked to the mower! It couldn't fly away unless I turned the engine off. As I was mowing I was marveled by the butterflies' intricate details and beautiful colors! As I looked at that monarch, helplessly attached to the powerful mower, I couldn't help to think and compare the same beautiful and gentle butterfly to my best friend and how life was just sucked out of him! Just as the mower was doing to the butterfly! I must have mowed a full 45 minutes or so before I was finished mowing. I thought for sure that the poor butterfly was dead, just as my best friend was! As I reached down and gently picked it up and just simply stared at it's beauty, it slowly fluttered its' wings! It stayed in my hand for a bit of time and before I knew it, the magnificent creature just flew away so ever elegantly! I truly felt in my heart that it was indeed my best friend telling me that he WAS OK, and that he DID make it to the other side and he WAS at peace with himself!

Who in their right mind would ever believe such a story? When a friend told me that I was not the only one who had a butterlfy encounter and many people had experienced something like I had, I was releived! Now i know i am NOT crazy after all and it did indeed happen! Thank you for the other insprational stories and glad to submit mine!
Janine, New Rochelle, NY
Almost 5 years ago, I gave birth to my only daughter. Over the summer, I would sit with her outside on the front porch. She was only 3 months old when I realized I kept seeing this butterfly in the front yard (I can't say it was the same one but it was always a black and yellow butterfly). I would see them occasionally but not nearly as frequently as this particular summer. I took tons of pictures as I love butterflies and wanted to pass that love onto my daughter (I'm proud to say she does). It wasn't until much later I discovered the significance. My dad had passed 6 years prior. I was also moving the following month. Old soul, new soul. New beginnings. How true. Miss you Dad!
Marie, AL
My mom died August 18, 2009. My son was very close to her and loved to play outside at my house with her. This August 2010, we had tons of monarch butterflies at our house. I have never seen butterflies in our yard before. My 4 year old son told me that one day during that time, that a butterfly landed on his face by his ear and kissed him. I really feel like that butterfly symbolized my mom giving him a kiss.
Debbie Sims, Weedsport, NY
My mom passes away on August 28, 2006 of lung cancer & brain cancer at 73. We had invited friends to join us at a camp owned by our daughter's in laws on Chase Lake in the Adirondacks. It was a beautiful day over the Columbus Day weekend that my three closest friends and I went for a walk. Along the way a beautiful monarch butterfly flew around me and landed on the dirt path in front of me. All of us noticed how it stayed there on the ground as we approached. Slowly, I bent down next to it expecting it to immediatley take flight. To my surprise it stayed right there next to me. I gently put my hand down offering my finger to land on. Shocked to see it come to closer to my finger and sit. I slowly stood up and continued our walk back to camp with this lovely creature very happily sitting on my finger all the way.

We returned to camp to find our husbands outside. We shared the story of my colorful passenger. One them a wonderful photogrpher ran inside to get his camera. All of us expecting the monarch to fly away before his return. To our surprise, this creature gladly stayed in place for it's amazing photo shoot. After quite a few pictures it slowly flew off my finger fluttering near one of my friends. Then proceeded to fly to my husband circling him before continuing on towards the lake. I cherish those photos of that experience. It do believe it was my mom's way of sending me a message that after a hard fight in this life, she was okay in her NEW life.
Michelle, Sydney, NSW, AUSTRALIA
On 16th December, 2010 at 4.30 pm, my beautiful son Benjamin was born sleeping at 16 weeks gestation. It was a very distressing time for me, but I had to hold it together for my husband and my 18 month old little boy. It was so sad to be so close to Christmas and have no family nearby, so we flew to my home town to spend Christmas with my family.

On our return home a couple of weeks later I saw a black butterfly with white spots flying near the house and I felt that it was Benjamin coming for a visit. It gave me some comfort at a very sad time. A few days later I saw it again, but this time I was in our pool with my son and the butterfly was diving down so we could almost touch it. I told my son it was his little brother visiting.

On the one month anniversary of Benjamin's passing, I ran into a few friends and they didn't know we had lost him. Needless to say, by the time we got home I was quite upset. We walked through the front door, and I don't know what made me look up, but there was the same butterfly, in our house, perched up high on our hallway wall. It stayed there the entire day, and each time I walked past, I said a silent hello to Benjamin. I was expecting to wake up the next day with the butterfly dead on the floor, instead it was still perched up high on the wall. Around lunchtime the same day, I noticed the butterfly hovering near the front door, so I opened it and out he flew. It was almost as if Benjamin stayed long enough to make sure I was ok on his anniversary and then feeling my calm, more hopeful mood, he flew away.

Every time I see one of those butterflies I will think of him.
Claire, Spalding, Lincolnshire, UK
Hi im Claire and I am a spiritual person who has a like minded friend who came over to my house just yesterday for lunch and a catch up as we hadn't seen each other for about a month. I am recovering from a major emergency operation and I feel this is partly why the experience I'm about to share with you happened!

After a wonderful lunch and chat my friend had to go home as she has three children. I had seen her off at the door, cleared away the lunch dishes, put the kettle on again for a cuppa and decided to put a dvd on that my mum had bought me for Christmas - it's all about Egypt! Now I'm writing a book to do with Egypt and we are going on holiday there soon! I literally had just lit 2 sented candles for relaxation and pressed play on the dvd menu. I sat down bottom barley touched the sofa and a black thing swooped down in front of me and made me jump out of my skin. It seemed to come out of nowhere and an hour previous me and my friend sat in that very room having coffee! I got up and took a closer look and it was a butterfly and I had a sense of knowing that it was a sign of spirit visitation and a strong feeling it was my nan as when my friend was there I pointed to a picture of my nan out to her! It was a beautiful red Admiral I feel so lucky to have this experience although my nan has been with me in spirit many times before. Ifeel this was to give me reasurrance about my healing after my Op and about my book! God bless you Nan love you so much! Xxxx
BUTTERFLY INSPIRATION
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