It was a moment in early fall when my husband, like he always did on his day off from work, went outside to cut the grass.  As he stepped out onto the back patio he heard the sound of humming. Perhaps it could be described as a gentle whispering of the wind like that through a whistle or more specifically a tone from a tuning fork. Regardless, my husband looked up into the sky thinking there might be some sort of spaceship overhead causing the hypnotic sound he was hearing.  But, instead, he witnessed a moment he will never forget. There in the back yard, as well as the prairie field behind it, was a migration of dragonflies.

Now it is a common thing for dragonflies to migrate south for the winter. It is just like ducks and birds going where it is warm when the cold spell hits.  Why the dragonflies are mystical in this case is they usually flock to watering holes.  Dragonflies by nature are bountiful along a lake or river. So, when my husband saw this flight of the dragonflies in our back yard he ran inside and grabbed his video recorder.  With out further hesitation he filmed for a good five minutes these winged creatures fluttering around our Texas hot prairie land.

As I viewed the video myself I exclaimed “Ten thousand angels…Honey, you were blessed by a visit from ten thousand angels.”  Certainly, my response when he shared the experience of that once in a life time day was of elation and praise to one higher than one’s self.  Of course, one might argue that angels and dragonflies are two separate things. I for one lean to the side of blessings and find comfort in believing these unique shaped insects are angels watching over me.

Obviously, there is a verse from the gospel of Matthew that I borrow from and/or reflect upon with the mention of legions of angels. In this Bible scripture it uses the word legions, but there is a song written by Ray Overholt based on that scripture and he titled his song ten thousand angels.  The song chorus states…He could have called ten thousand angels to set him free. O.K. I might be getting of course a bit, yet I felt I should clarify my initial reaction to this epic event.

So, today, my husband and I went to our favorite restaurant with the patio that overlooks a lake.  While we sat and enjoyed the sunlight beaming down and the gentle breeze cooling our face my husband noticed a dragonfly frolicking about.  As he watched it dance among the cattails and water lilies he talked nonstop. He reflected back to a day of old; A day when he wasn’t in a wheelchair and had use of his left side. He started talking about the day he saw a legion of dragonflies.  He told me the story with every detail, like it was a moment that just happened.  We talked about how he recorded that momentous event and how we would watch it when we got home. Basically, my stroke survivor, in that moment was simply my husband. He, was my husband, the man visited by ten thousand angels…