I stepped out of the garage and looked across the driveway at the house. It was dark and silent. My husband and children were in their beds and fast asleep. Earlier in the evening when Mom had called to tell me Daddy had just died, my husband Arnie and I decided that he’d stay home with our daughters so I could go to the hospital to spend time with family.

The balmy spring night breeze felt pleasant as I stood in the driveway thinking about my dear, sweet father. How strange it felt to have him gone. There wasn’t a sound, but I felt something approaching. I looked up and saw a huge horned owl swoop low over my head and then fly up to the chimney of the house. Having landed, it gave three, deep hoots and stared down at me.

My heart pounded as my mind flooded with memories of my childhood. It felt like the essence of Daddy was right there with me in the yard. Looking up at the magnificent bird, I questioned, “Daddy?”  The owl continued to perch on the house’s chimney and hoot. I knew the owl was just an owl, but it felt like Daddy’s spirit had accompanied the owl’s unexpected and unusual arrival.

More than thirty years later, my two bachelor brothers made me remember the spiritual feeling I had when I saw the owl on the night of Daddy’s death by going on a midnight quest to the woods to see owls. Both of my brothers suffered from Parkinson’s, and despite my calling to check on them frequently, coming to the farm to fill their pill boxes and doing many other things for them, they were not doing well. Pills were either not taken or too many taken. Hallucinations clouded reality at times. There were falls, burned meals and clutter everywhere.

At Billy and Casper’s visit to the doctor in March 2016, I was told it was time for me to have them move into an assisted living home. The night before the move, my brothers decided to walk in the dark to the farm’s wood lot about a mile behind the barn. Fortunately, they made it back home, but there were certainly falls, and one of them lost their glasses. The reason for their trip? “We wanted to see the owls.”

My family was always very close to nature, especially my brothers, who made many visits to the nearby woods as I grew up. I loved accompanying them on their adventures. Some trips were to mount birdhouses on fence posts. At certain times of the year, we went to pick whatever berries were in season. Other trips were to plant willow branches in the swamp or to just look at the minnows, frogs and dragon flies in the creek.

 I looked up to my brothers and was in awe of their knowledge. Casper could identify most trees just by looking at the trunk and a leaf. He knew the habits of all the animals and birds that lived in the woods. Billy could name every plant that grew wild on the farm. He also knew the names of the stars and constellations in the night sky. They enjoyed life on the farm.

On the night Billy and Casper walked in the dark hoping to see owls, I’d like to think our Daddy’s spirit guided and helped them get safely back home.

On the night Daddy died, it seemed as though his spirit came to check on me and make sure I was okay. The great horned owl only made me aware of his presence. After making three last deep hoots, the owl flew away, but in a different direction than it had come from. That seemed appropriate, because life is a journey which always moves forward, and never back.