We Are Never Alone ("The Birdies")

This is a true story that occurred in 1994 and is told by Lloyd Glenn:

Throughout our lives we are blessed with spiritual experiences, so me 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 enroute 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 lying 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. 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 & 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 alright."

"The baby?" my wife asked confused.

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 recognizable
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 that the baby would be okay, but the man couldn't hear him. He said
the 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. 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 woosh, 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 got a softened look on their face and smiled. Needless
to say, we have not been the same ever since that day, and pray we never
will be.

by Lloyd Glenn