The Birdies
This is a true story that occurred in 1994 and was told by Lloyd
Glen.
...On July 22nd, I was enroute to Washington, D.C. 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 ovehead 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 severly
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 laying so still
on a great big bed with tubes and monitors everywhere. He was on a
respirator. I glanced at my wife who stood by his side -- it was 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 okay -- two miracles, in and of themselves. 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.
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 and she came to
tell you I got stuck under the door."
A sweet reverent feeling filled the room. The spirit was so strong and
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 all right."
"What baby?" And 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
unrecognizable 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. "Then what happened?" she asked.
"We went on a trip, 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 him
and comfort him, and let him know it would be okay. He struggled with
wanting to tell something that was obviously 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 known before.
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 the baby would be okay, but the man couldn't hear him. He
said, "Birdies told him he had to go with the ambulance, but they would be
near him." They were so pretty and peaceful, he didn't want to come back.
And then the bright light came. He said 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 whoosh, the big sound came and they went into the clouds.
The story went on for an hour. He told us, "the '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 (and he put his hand over his heart). They whisper
the things to help us 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 because they love us all 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 complete strangers about the 'birdies'. No
one ever looked at him strangely when he did this. Rather, they always
get a profound softened look on their face and smile. Needless to say, we
have not been the same ever since that day, and I pray we never will be.
