Dragonfly revisits: 6/7/2008

A dragonfly rested in our driveway. It allowed me one shot before it flew off.

It reminded me of another dragonfly that paid us a visit one night three years ago. My family was grieving the loss of our beloved pet dog, Kula. My son, Landon, in particular was having a hard time dealing with his death. Wendell and I were in the living room watching American Idol. Suddenly, there was this funny sound coming from outside the front door. It kinda sounded like rain falling. It stopped. And then it started again. Wendell went to the front door and said, “Oh, it’s a big moth or something.” I went to the door and I saw that it was a dragonfly, and it was big enough to have set off the motion detector light. When I looked, it was just resting there on one of the slippers.

I ran to the bedroom to grab my camera. I ran back and opened the door and was able to get off two shots. I don’t know if it was the flash or what, but the dragonfly suddenly darted up as if awakened and flew straight into the house, flapping and fluttering all around the living room with that strange, loud rustling sound. Me and Wendell (mostly Wendell) started screaming bloody murder, trying to get away from it.

By the time Landon came into the living room to find out what all the commotion was about, the dragonfly had settled down between the sofa and a chair. Landon sat on the chair while I settled into the sofa and we both stared down at it. I told Landon, “I think it’s a sign.” Landon looked closely at the dragonfly, looked up at me and said, “The day after Kula died, while me and dad were golfing there were a lot of dragonflies out there too, but Ma, I don’t see how that’s a sign.” So we both laughed, and I said, “True.”

Then, it dawned on me . . . there was a movie . . . “Dragonfly” with Kevin Costner. I said, “Oh, my God, Landon, there’s this movie, it’s called, Dragonfly, I wonder if it’s the one I’m thinking of.”

Landon and Taryn went to Blockbuster right away, and we watched the movie that night. It’s about a doctor whose wife dies. Her favorite thing was dragonflies. The doctor's scientific mind believed that when you die, you die, and that was it, so he had a hard time dealing with her death. The movie is about her trying to contact him from beyond. I watched the movie in awe . . . not just because of its content, and not just because it was so pertinent, but mostly because a dragonfly actually flew into our house to give us this message. At the end of the movie the doctor says that we need to trust and to have faith. His last line in the movie is, “It’s belief that gets us there.”

Landon meets Kula - 1993

Landon and Kula cruising - 1996