In this episode, we're featuring stories from listeners who have received signs from their departed loved ones, signs they believe are answered prayers.
Do you have a topic you'd like us to discuss? Please email us at podcast@clecem.org!
Please feel free to "Connect With Us" via our website at www.clecem.org.
Follow us on:
Facebook: @catholiccemeteriesassociation
Twitter: @CLECatholicCems
Instagram: @clecatholiccems
Blog: @clevelandcatholiccemeteries
Podcast: "CCAirwaves" on your favorite streaming platform!
In this episode, we're featuring stories from listeners who have received signs from their departed loved ones, signs they believe are answered prayers.
Do you have a topic you'd like us to discuss? Please email us at podcast@clecem.org!
Please feel free to "Connect With Us" via our website at www.clecem.org.
Follow us on:
Facebook: @catholiccemeteriesassociation
Twitter: @CLECatholicCems
Instagram: @clecatholiccems
Blog: @clevelandcatholiccemeteries
Podcast: "CCAirwaves" on your favorite streaming platform!
VALE. Hello everyone and welcome back to CC Airwaves. My name is Paige Matillo and I'm here with my co-host, joel Hansel.
Speaker 2:Hello Paige, how are you?
Speaker 1:I'm doing good. How are you, joel?
Speaker 2:I'm fine looking forward to the fall after the deep freeze last week.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm looking forward to it too. Back in December I was praying for snow. I was like I really just want a white Christmas, nice New Year's Eve, just a little bit of dusting, and I think that we got way more than I expected. Today we'll be sharing stories from individuals who felt their prayers were heard and answered, often in moments filled with awe and wonder. So I'll start us off with our first story, which was submitted by Bella C.
Speaker 1:My mom passed away 10 years ago. After her passing, I found comfort in talking to her, as if she could still hear me. One night, when I was feeling particularly low, I sat on my bed with her Bible open, whispering a prayer, hoping she was at peace in heaven. I was so consumed by memories of my mom that I didn't notice my blue highlighter was leaking onto the pages. I tried to blot it, but the damage was done. I had created a blob that seemingly ruined my mother's beloved Bible. I closed the book, deciding to deal with it in the morning. Next morning I opened my Bible and was shocked. The ink had been spread and dried overnight, had formed into the shape of an angel. I took that as a sign, a reminder of her love and perhaps her presence the angel in her Bible became our special connection. Whenever I miss her, I open the book and find comfort.
Speaker 2:She's got a signed edition of the Bible by her angel mother.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think that makes it even just a little bit more special. I mean, I saw the picture of it and I'll have to show you the picture of it after Joel, but it really it does look like an angel.
Speaker 2:That's pretty cool.
Speaker 1:I know, and it just feels a little extra special, especially after she had started praying and was hoping that her mother was at peace and that just was a sign that she was. And I mean, who better to be her angel than her mother?
Speaker 2:Absolutely. Story number two was submitted by Edward H. After my wife's passing, I found myself seeking comfort and understanding, which led me to a local grief support group. It was there I met Linda, who was grappling with the loss of her best friend. We quickly formed a bond over our shared experiences of loss. Linda expressed her difficulties venturing out and making new friends, while I confided about my crisis of faith, feeling as though God was ignoring my prayers.
Speaker 2:During our meeting, Linda presented me with a Bible she had bought. It looked untouched, brand new. She explained that while out shopping, she felt an inexplicable urge to buy it for me, remembering my struggles with faith. That evening, as I flipped through the pages of the Bible, a highlighted verse caught my eye. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever Psalm 100, verse five. That was my wife's favorite verse. Curious, I asked Linda the following week if she was the one who had highlighted it. To my surprise, she had not. This realization struck me deeply. It seemed like a comforting sign for my wife, reaffirming my faith and reminding me that our love was everlasting. Since then, Linda and I have remained friends. Our friendship has become a source of strength for both of us.
Speaker 1:I think that's really sweet. I also see it from the other side of maybe. Linda's friend brought them together because she knew that she was struggling, trying to find new friends. It seems like it came together in this way. They both needed support in that moment.
Speaker 2:One of the things that we often hear from Rhonda Abrams, our bereavement support person, is, when you lose somebody that you love, that going to a grief support group can help and making connections with people can help get you through those moments of grief. That's what Edward did here, and I think it's absolutely incredible that that particular Bible with that particular verse underlined found its way into his hands.
Speaker 1:Exactly this third story was submitted by Rosie S. I was only 14 when I lost my dad. Sometimes, at the most unexpected moments, grief sneaks up on me. One of those moments came a few months ago. I found myself scrolling through his old Facebook profile. It was like a digital museum of his life, filled with all of our memories. I decided to send him a message about how much I missed him. I didn't know what I expected. Maybe I was hoping for a connection. I even prayed for a response, knowing it was impossible.
Speaker 1:The next day I stopped by a gas station to grab a drink. I reached for a soda, but at the last second I changed my mind. I grabbed a soap water instead. It was a strange choice. I'd never had it before. As I opened it, my eyes went to inside the cap. There, to my disbelief, were the words Miss you like crazy. It was like he was answering my message. My prayer from the night before that bottle cap message, as simple as it was, brought me a sense of closeness to him that I hadn't felt in years.
Speaker 2:It's amazing, that really really is amazing.
Speaker 1:I mean because those messages can say anything.
Speaker 2:They are random, absolutely they are random, and to get one like that just kind of makes your draw job.
Speaker 1:Do you remember I was going to ask about popsicles? Do you remember the popsicles that had the jokes on them?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think they had like the joke on the handle. Yeah, you had to eat the popsicle and finish it to reveal the answer to the joke.
Speaker 1:And it kind of reminds me of that, and I've actually had some of those drinks before the soap water and I mean the things that they say. I've never seen something like that. Like I miss you, like crazy.
Speaker 2:So and it's so specific to that situation?
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's incredible. I mean, sometimes we find the answers where we need the most.
Speaker 2:Our final story was submitted by Kelly L. Losing my son was like losing a part of myself. It reached the point where I didn't feel like a mom anymore. That identity vanished with him. In my deepest moment of grief, I remember praying for a sign, something to help me feel like a mother again.
Speaker 2:One evening, while taking out my trash, I heard a faint meowing behind the bin. There, huddled and shivering, was a tiny, abandoned kitten. It looked helpless, like how I felt. Without a second thought, I took him inside. I cared for the fragile creature and felt something inside me shift. I felt like I couldn't give the kitten the forever home it needed at the time, so I took it to a local animal shelter. After speaking with an employee, she introduced me to animal fostering. After a heartfelt conversation with the fostering group, I applied to become a foster home for animals.
Speaker 2:Over the years, my home became a sanctuary for various animals Cats, dogs, birds, rabbits each with their own story. With every animal I cared for, a piece of my heart healed. They needed me as much as I needed them. There were challenges, of course, but the unconditional love and trust these animals gave me filled my days with purpose and joy. Taking care of these animals has not replaced the love I have for my son, but it has helped me expand it in ways I never imagined. In nurturing them, I found a piece of myself I thought was lost forever. Although my journey took an unexpected turn, it led me to an answer to my prayers Waiting for animals until they find their forever homes, much like my son found his in heaven.
Speaker 1:I actually got to meet Kelly because I was telling Joel that I was thinking about and adopting a kitten Still am thinking about adopting that kitten but I was able to go to her house and see all the animals and she told me the story about how she had lost her son and how she was just in this deep state of grief and how becoming a foster home for these animals filled their heart and it was a really beautiful and touching story and I loved including it in this podcast episode.
Speaker 2:I think there is always a time in somebody's life where they feel like they've lost their identity, where they just don't know what their purpose is anymore, or what life has in store for them, what God's plan is, and those crises of confidence can sometimes be overwhelming and can sometimes fill you with great, great sadness.
Speaker 2:And in Kelly's case, obviously her identity was being a mom, having someone to care for, and she was able to find that again by being a foster for these animals and it's a very, very heartfelt story and it's given her some purpose and made her reconnect with her son. Somehow there's a symmetry there. She took care of her son, she's taking care of these animals and her ultimate goal was, or is, to get them to their final destination her son's case in heaven, with these animals having a nice, a nice permanent home.
Speaker 1:It's interesting that you mentioned identities, because my mom had talked to me about this at one point, about how, when she was younger, you know she's Susan, but then, after she had me, she's Paige's mom, and that's kind of how she became known. You know at school, paige's mom, at sports, oh, that's Paige's mom. So her identity was being my mother and I mean, you know, as your child grows up and as they leave the house, I mean you'll have a son leaving the house soon and he and you just you find your identity in a different way and I feel like that she was able to find herself again by taking care of these animals.
Speaker 1:So, kelly, I'm so happy for you. Thank you so much for listening to CC Airwaves. If you have received a message from heaven and you would like to share it with us, you can email it to us at podcast at CLECEMorg, or you can reach out to us and send us a message over social media. We're at CC Airwaves on all platforms.
Speaker 2:Until the next episode, take care everyone.