Right after we set up our beach blanket and Kailyn ran off to play, Joe headed back to the car to get something we had forgotten. I sat on the blanket watching Kailyn when this butterfly flew up and landed right next to me. We are talking about 6" from me, then it flew up again and landed on my stomach. Then a giant blue butterfly landed on my leg at the same time and stayed for just a moment as if to say hi in passing. It's not everyday that a butterfly lands on you, it is certainly not everyday that two of them do it at exactly the same moment. The first butterfly hung out with me for the better part of the afternoon.
Now if you know me by now... you know I'm symbolic by nature and I couldn't help but feel there was something about this butterfly. Something in my gut was just pulling at me, I just couldn't put my finger on it...
The next day I was at my parents house when my mom happened to ask if we had gone out to the lake the day before. I said we had, as we often do on Sunday evenings to relax as a family before another busy week. My mom told me that she almost stopped by to see if we were there, she was right down the road passing by on RT 42 heading to my grandmothers grave. Still I didn't fit the pieces together.
As I was going through my images of Day 82 I was about to edit one of Kailyn chasing a ton of seagulls when I came across the butterfly images. Finally I put the pieces together. The exact moment I was photographing this butterfly and thinking to myself... there is something more to this, my mother was driving past us heading to my grandmothers grave. It had been 4 years to the day since my she passed. August 15, 2006. The missing piece.
And as for that second butterfly, it has been just over 7 years since my grandpa passed, if you've read much of my 365 journey you probably know just how special he was to me just as my grandma was... I think maybe he just sent me a little hello from a better place.
I've often been asked why my business name is KimberlyElaine. Of course it is my middle name, but I wanted to use it because of my grandmother, Elaine Santo. She was a strong, independent woman who was an outstanding grandmother. She had so many characteristics that were admirable and inspirational. I feel honored to be named after my grandmother and I hope Kailyn is lucky enough to understand why she was named after her great-grandmother that she never got a chance to even meet.
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