Hope Springs Eternal - Diane Marie Ford

Hope springs eternal in the human breast;

Man never is, but always to be blessed:

The soul, uneasy and confined from home,

Rests and expatiates in a life to come.*

We are an optimistic lot by nature. We tend to hold on to our hope, though in some sobering situations, it may appear ‘things’ can’t possibly turn out the way we wish they would.

Hope keeps us afloat during our most challenging trials and tribulations. And thankfully, there are times when hope does reign supreme. For example, after experiencing the death of a loved one, many may hope to ‘see’ their loved one again, or they hope to connect with and/or receive some type of a sign or indication their loved one is still with them. They hope and pray there is more to life than just ‘this’ and they hope and pray they will be reunited with their loved one when their ‘time’ arrives.

Then, from out of the blue the cardinal appears, perched outside the window, singing his soothing song; letting you know all is well. Or, you may be driving along your merry or perhaps not so merry way, when ‘that song’ begins to play out of the blue. ‘That song’ which evokes vivid and loving memories. ‘That song’ which holds a special and tender meaning for you and your recently deceased loved one.

Hope reigns supreme. From my experience connecting and communicating with our dearly departed (yet still very present) loved ones, hope is alive and well and hope validates itself each and every minute of each and every day. We do live on and those who have gone before us pave the way for a better, more complete life for their loved ones who remain on the earth plane.

Recently at the funeral of a very dear friend, Joanie, we all shared the grief of her physical loss; the pain was palpable. Sobs could be heard throughout the service and Kleenex flowed like a running river. During the eulogy Joanie’s daughter reminded us of her mother’s love for songbirds, especially the cardinals. She ended the eulogy with the hope that we feel her mother’s essence each and every time we see a cardinal. As we filtered and lingered outside the church on that cold and snowy morning, we heard a voice, which just so happened to be Joanie’s granddaughter, shout “Look!” We all turned to look at a tree which stood barely ten feet away, to discover, much to our amazement (but not to our surprise) a bright red cardinal perched on a barren branch, singing loud and proud. Hope springs eternal.

(*An excerpt from Alexander Pope, An Essay on Man)

This blog-post is a reprint of my March 2015 article which first appeared in my Yes My Dear,We Can Talk To The Dead column in the Free Bird Times Newspaper.