I have always heard stories about visits from loved ones after they pass but frankly wasn't sure I believed in them. I have changed my mind now though. After Dad passed away I went through days of being disappointed and angry. If any of the stories were true, wouldn't I be one of the first people Dad came to visit, I kept asking. Why wasn't he coming to check on me, let me know everything was alright? Finally, disappointed when he was speaking to me in my dreams or anything else, I gave up. Then one afternoon after returning from Maine when Matt, the kids and I were all at home, we heard a loud crash. The crash had come from the kitchen. I got up and walked into the kitchen noticing that there weren't any animals running scared and guilty. Looking to the left, I quickly spotted what the crashing sound was triggered by. Above our granite kitchen counters we have a shelf hanging with a grooved notch in it to display some very special plates. These are antique plates Mom and Dad had found when going to flea markets and yard sales years ago when they were still married. They had brought them to California and given them to me as a gift after I bought my first house. The three plates had somehow crashed onto the granite counter and were lying face down in a perfect row. What was stranger was that only one had a slight chip on the side whereas anything else I had ever so much as knocked over on these counters had shattered on the spot. I looked at the shelf, thinking it obviously must be coming pulled out of the wall or something for the plates to fall ... nothing. I looked again for the animals, but even if they had been in the room, not even our kittens had a way to reach the shelf and if they did the plates wouldn't have landed unbroken in a perfect row. Finally, after rationalizing the situation as much as possible I figured out it was Dad trying to get our attention to let us know that he was here with us. I started to cry yet felt a sense of happiness at the same time. I then called out to him, "Next time you want us to know you are here could you do something useful like fix our sprinklers instead of trying to break our plates?!!!" I now know you are here watching over us. Thank you, Dad, I miss you so much!

We are really missing Dad right now. At least twice a year he would come to CA to see his grand daughters. Before arriving he would ask me for a list of projects to work on when he was here as in addition to seeing his 'Beans' he always wanted to help, no matter how bad his back felt. The list for his first visit in my latest house (post divorce) was fix broken sprinkler, rehang kitchen cabinet door. Well for those of you who knew Dad well, he was a hard worker, but he fit the French stereotype to say the least. Each visit he would fix the sprinklers,the cabinets ... The next visit he would fix the same sprinklers, the same cabinets ... The best though was when the towel rack in the girls' bathroom broke. When Dad got here I bought a new rack. He spent hours alone in the bathroom, sweating and cussing as he tried to get it hung up properly for me. Finally, after many foul words, he announced victory. I walked in without him and tried to suppress my laughter - the rack was up but totally upside down! I actually didn't have the heart to tell him, but his grand daughters soon heard me laughing and came to see why. They then were quick to relay this to Papa while laughing themselves. Papa was so frustrated but quickly started again and labored and sweat for hours until he got the rack hung up properly! We miss you Dad! The cabinets are all up right now but the sprinklers could use some help!