My girlfriend told me something that I thought I'd share. You know how some people, including myself, latch onto things as "signs" after a person passes on? It may not mean anything, but it's a way to tell ourselves that everything's ok and helps us deal with the loss.
She said that on his last day, all the family members had just spent the day with him, and they all told him that it was OK for him to go and that the rest of the family was waiting for him on the other side. After his granddaughter (adopted from China by his daughter and her partner) left, he quietly passed on.
After things were taken care of, the rest of the family walked out into the parking lot, and a huge hawk appeared. It circled around, following them to their car. It seemed to take such an unusual interest in them that they noticed it and speculated that maybe it represented their father. They said goodbye to it and wshed it well on its journey, and then it took off and soared into the heavens, so high it was completely out of sight, as if it had, indeed, gone to heaven.
That image is somehow comforting to me, too.
