Signs

The Sunday before my mom’s surgery we went to church together and the flowers on the altar were in memory of my father.  Although he has been gone nearly 22 years he is very much still a part of our lives.  In a good way.  In an easy and familiar way.  We talk about him in the present tense and the signs that he is just beyond the thinnest of curtains are always evident.  The signs began the moment I started driving home last week.  The traffic was moving slowly and I was keeping pace with a white truck.  I pulled alongside just as the traffic came to a standstill and looked at the side of the truck.  And there was the sign that I was supposed to be going north to spend the week with my mom.

Noel’s Fire Protection.  How random yet how not.  My father’s name was Noel.  Not a common name by any means. Unusual enough to always catch me off guard when I see it or find it on the side of a truck.  A sign.  Four days later came another.  My mom was in the hospital, several hours post-op and finally settled into a room.  The day nurse was lovely and when she came in to introduce the night nurse both my mother and I paused.  Mom asked her to come closer so she could read her badge.  And there was the sign.  Her name was Noeline.  Noeline???? I have never, ever heard that name before and I just looked at my mom and said “I guess daddy will be with you through the night”.

No coincidence…….the quiet hand of God remaining anonymous in our lives.  Noeline.  Of course the night nurse would be Noeline.  Daddy is with us, always.