"The Birdies"
This is a true story that occurred in 1994
and was told by Lloyd Glen.
************
Throughout our lives we are blessed with spiritual experiences, some
of which are very sacred and confidential, and others, although
sacred, are meant to be shared.
Last summer my family had a spiritual experience that had a lasting
and profound impact on us, one we feel must be shared.
It's a message of love.
It's a message of regaining perspective, and restoring proper balance
and
renewing priorities. In humility, I pray that I might, in relating
this story, give you a gift my little son, Brian gave our family one
summer day last year.
On July 22nd I was in route to Washington DC for a business trip.
It was all so very ordinary, until we landed in Denver for a plane
change. As I collected my belongings from the overhead bin, an
announcement was made for Mr. Lloyd Glenn to see the United Customer
Service Representative immediately. I thought nothing of it until I
reached the door to leave the plane and I heard a
gentleman asking every male if they were Mr. Glenn. At this point I
knew something was wrong and my heart sunk. When I got off the plane
a solemn-faced young man came toward me and said, "Mr. Glenn there is
an emergency at your home. I do not know what the emergency is, or who
is involved, but I will take you to the phone so you can call the
hospital."
My heart was now pounding, but the will to be calm took over.
Woodenly, I followed this stranger to the distant telephone where I
called the number he gave me for the Mission Hospital. My call was put
through to the trauma center where I learned that my three-year-old
son had been trapped underneath the automatic garage door for several
minutes, and that when my wife had found him he was dead. CPR had
been performed by a neighbor, who is a
doctor, and the paramedics had continued the treatment as Brian was
transported
to the hospital. By the time of my call, Brian was revived and they
believed he would live, but they did not know how much damage had been
done to his brain, nor to his heart. They explained that the door had
completely closed on his little sternum right over his heart. He had
been severely crushed.
After speaking with the medical staff, my wife sounded worried but not
hysterical, and I took comfort in her calmness. The return flight
seemed to last forever, but finally I arrived at the hospital six
hours after the garage door had come down. When I walked into the
intensive care unit, nothing could have prepared me to see
my little son laying so still on a great big bed with tubes and
monitors everywhere.
He was on a respirator. I glanced at my wife who stood and tried to
give me a reassuring smile. It all seemed like a terrible dream. I
was filled in with the details and given a guarded prognosis. Brian
was going to live, and the preliminary tests
indicated that his heart was ok-two miracles, in and of themselves.
But only time would tell if his brain received any damage.
Throughout the seemingly endless hours, my wife was calm. She felt
that Brian would eventually be all right. I hung on to her words and
faith like a lifeline. All that night and the next day Brian remained
unconscious. It seemed like forever since I
had left for my business trip the day before. Finally at two o'clock
that afternoon, our son regained consciousness and sat up uttering the
most beautiful words I have ever heard spoken, He said, "Daddy hold
me," and he reached for me with his little arms. [TEAR BREAK...smile]
By the next day he was pronounced as having no neurological or
physical deficits, and the story of his miraculous survival spread
throughout the hospital. You cannot imagine our gratitude and joy.
As we took Brian home we felt a unique reverence for the life and love
Of our Heavenly Father that comes to those who brush death so closely.
In the days that followed there was a special spirit about our home.
Our two older children were much closer to their little brother. My
wife and I were much closer to each other, and all of us were very
close as a whole family. Life took on a less stressful pace.
Perspective seemed to be more focused, and balance much easier to gain
and maintain. We felt deeply blessed. Our gratitude was truly
profound.
[The story is not over] (smile)
Almost a month later to the day of the accident, Brian awoke from his
afternoon nap and said, "Sit down mommy. I have something to tell
you."
At this time in his life, Brian usually spoke in small phrases, so to
say a large sentence surprised my wife. She sat down with him on his
bed and he began his sacred and remarkable story.
"Do you remember when I got stuck under the garage door? Well it was
so heavy and it hurt really bad. I called to you, but you couldn't
hear me. I started to cry, but then it hurt too bad. And then the
"birdies" came."
"The birdies?" my wife asked puzzled.
"Yes," he replied. "The birdies" made a whooshing sound and flew into
the garage.
They took care of me."
"They did?"
"Yes," he said. "One of the birdies" came and got you. She came to
tell you I got
stuck under the door."
A sweet reverent feeling filled the room. The spirit was so strong and
yet lighter than air. My wife realized that a three-year-old had no
concept of death and spirits, so he was referring to the beings who
came to him from beyond as
"birdies" because they were up in the air like birds that fly.
"What did the birdies look like?" she asked.
Brian answered. "They were so beautiful. They were dressed in white
all white. Some of them had green and white. But some of them had on
just white."
"Did they say anything?"
"Yes" he answered. "They told me the baby would be all right."
"The baby?" my wife asked, confused.
And Brian answered, "the baby laying on the garage floor." He went
on.
"You came out and opened the garage door and ran to the baby. You
told the
baby to stay and not leave."
My wife nearly collapsed upon hearing this, for she had indeed gone
and knelt beside Brian's body and seeing his crushed chest and
urecognizable features, knowing he was already dead, she looked up
around her and whispered, "Don't leave us Brian, please stay if you
can."
As she listened to Brian telling her the words she had spoken, she
realized that the spirit had left his body and was looking down from
above on this little lifeless form. "Then what happened?" she asked.
"We went on a trip." he said, "far, far away.."
He grew agitated trying to say the things he didn't seem to have the
words for.
My wife tried to calm and comfort him, and let him know it would be
okay.
He struggled with wanting to tell something that obviously was very
important to him, but finding the words was difficult.
"We flew so fast up in the air." "They're so pretty Mommy." he added.
"And there is lots and lots of "birdies". My wife was stunned.
Into her mind the sweet comforting spirit enveloped her more soundly,
but with an urgency she had never before known.
Brian went on to tell her that the 'birdies' had told him that he had
to come back and tell everyone about the "birdies".
He said they brought him back to the house and that a big fire truck,
and an
ambulance were there. A man was bringing the baby out on a white bed
and he tried to tell the man the baby would be okay, but the man
couldn't hear him. He said, "birdies told him he had to go with the
ambulance, but they would be near him. He said, they were so pretty
and so peaceful, and he didn't want to come back. And then the bright
light came. He said that the light was so bright and so
warm, and he loved the bright light so much. Someone was in the bright
light
and put their arms around him, and told him, "I love you but you have
to go back.
You have to play baseball, and tell everyone about the birdies."
Then the person in the bright light kissed him and waved bye-bye.
Then whoosh, the big sound came and they went into the clouds."
The story went on for an hour. He taught us that "birdies" were
always with us, but we don't see them because we look with our eyes
and we don't hear them because we listen with our ears. But they
are always there, you can only see them in here (he put his hand over
his heart). They whisper the things to help us to
do what is right because they love us so much. Brian continued,
stating, "I have a plan, Mommy. You have a plan. Daddy has a plan.
Everyone has a plan. We must all live our plan and keep our
promises. The "birdies help us to do that cause they love us so
much."
In the weeks that followed, he often came to us and told all, or part
of it again and again. Always the story remained the same. The
details were never changed or out of order. A few times he added
further bits of information and clarified the message he had already
delivered. It never ceased to amaze us how he could tell such detail
and speak beyond his ability when he spoke of his "birdies."
Everywhere he went, he told strangers about the "birdies".
Surprisingly, no one ever looked at him strangely when he did this.
Rather, they always get a softened look on their face and smiled.
Needless to say, we have not been the same ever since that day, and I
pray we never will be.
"Stories"
"Main Page"