“Wait for me! Wait for me!”

I hear a little voice ring louder than church bells across a 40-acre field of tall grass in the rolling hills behind the big red barn at the family farm.

It’s summertime. The air feels warm on the face. The breeze is light, and the sun is sitting high in the bright blue cloudless sky. I was walking with my mom across the fields making a trek out to the woods. Where we were going or why, I really don’t remember. But what I do remember as if it was only moments ago is a fiery little 4-year old girl scramble across the yard and run to make her way toward us.

My sister had just pulled up in the yard in her car with her girls in tow to visit grandma and grandpa to have a day of play and shenanigans at the farm. No sooner had she parked the car when the rear passenger door flew open and her oldest daughter bolted out, leaving the car door wide open while she sprinted across the yard and made her way toward us. Yelling at us to wait for her.

Meanwhile, I could see my dad as he stood by my sister’s car, hat off and scratching his head as he watched the little girl run to us. I could only imagine the look on his face and the pride in his heart.

My niece couldn’t help herself. She ran, then skipped, twirled in circles, then started to jump like a frog. It was exhilarating to watch her. She was carefree and happy, loving the world around her. You couldn’t help but smile and giggle along with her. My mom’s eyes sparkled as she watched the little girl dance among the grass. My niece giggled and laughed the entire way as she traveled to where we stood, her feet barely on the ground!

“Where are you going?”, asked my niece as she looked up at mom and me when she finally arrived and held up a handful of wild daisies that she picked along the way. “These are for you,” she said. You see, it wasn’t until that very moment, did I take notice of all the daisies swaying gently among the blades of grass all around us. My niece said, “Look, aren’t they like little angels?” She gently pulled off the white petals from the yellow centers until she had a handful then blew them away as she twirled in a circle. She giggled and said, “There! Now we have more little angels all around us!”

She shrugged her shoulders, then said, “let’s go” as she walked between me and mom. She grabbed hold of our hands, started to skip once again, and simply said, “I love a sun-shiny day!”

We finished our walk to the woods that day then came back to the house. I spent the rest of the day enjoying the carefree play with the girls while visiting with my parents and sister.
This memory is very special to me. I relive it in my dreams often. I truly believe it is meant to inspire healing, hope, and gratitude.

You see, that summer was my niece’s last summer. She left us only a few months later.

I believe that although her time with us was short, she was an angel that taught me to appreciate the present moment, see the beauty among the mundane, appreciate the goodness in others, and to believe that no matter what…

Every day is sprinkled with sunshine.