Thank you for the outpouring of support and love. Even though it has only been a day, somehow it feels like it has been a week. 

Bella (my dog) got a special trip to Mom's house. She's never been there, but I thought it would be good for both of them. Bella has been home alone for quite a few days, and my mom could use the emotional support a dog can give.

My cousin Lex spent a few hours with us today. Jenna is "work from home" so she brought her laptop to Grandma's and set up in the dining room. I spent the day figuring out and organizing the finances so we can make the bills a smooth transition. The last of the hospice equipment/bed was returned. A new normal lies ahead.

I promised you a bird story, so here it goes. On Tuesday, April 26 in the morning, my mom and I were looking out the window at the bird feeders (they have 4), and we saw a huge pilated woodpecker - we both gasped and tried to pull out our phones to get a picture, but he left so quickly. If my mom hadn't confirmed that she saw it too, I would have thought it was a dream. She said she had never seen a woodpecker that big. We told Andrew about it. I also mentioned it to Andrew's wife, Elaine who is in California. She said, "Maybe it is my dad!" Elaine's dad passed more than a year ago. Her dad and my dad were "two peas in a pod" - like brothers. I told her that I actually had a strange feeling that it was her dad too before she said that, but I thought if I said it out loud, she would think I was crazy. She said her sister has had "sightings" of birds with their dad before and even woodpeckers. Their family talks about him coming back as something in nature all the time. 

The same woodpecker came back at dinner time and stayed for a minute and a half! I got a great video of it showing off. Then it left.

I decided to tell my dad about this woodpecker on Wednesday, April 27. I told him we thought it might be Elaine's dad. My dad isn't much of a believer of signs and reincarnation, but as he watched my video he waved at my phone and said "Hi Eliseo!" 

We didn't see the woodpecker again - and we spent a lot of time at the kitchen window. There was a time that four blue jays were at the feeders at the same time - which was unusual. Andrew saw one blue jay fan itself out on the deck flat on his stomach with his wings stretched out for a minute or so. It looked dead but eventually it got back up and was fluffed out. Lastly, the suet feeders were hung by wires on the outside of the deck rails so we can see the birds from the kitchen. Two days in a row, we found the suet feeders flipped around to the other side of the deck. I thought it was strange and wasn't sure how a bird did it because it was actually hard for me to flip them back over to the other side. One afternoon, we found out that my dad could see the edge of the deck from his bed from the second floor. And sure enough, when the suet feeders were turned the other way, that meant he could see them feed on the feeders!

When he died yesterday, May 2, we were desperate to have a sighting. My mom and I were on the deck (it was a warm, sunny morning) and there was a bumblebee on the fence. Then a bumblebee (maybe the same one?) flew into the house and took a tour around. Jenna captured it in a cup, and we let him outside. It continued to bang against my dad's window upstairs. 

Then this morning, May 3, the pilated woodpecker came back. We hadn't seen him since Tuesday. He did the same thing - flew away quickly the first time I saw him, came back, and gave us a little show the second time and I recorded him. 

I couldn't help but smile. Are these real signs or just something we made up to make us feel better? We will never really know. But I felt a feeling of love and I know the rest of the family felt it, too. We miss you, Dad.