Life According to Traveler

Traveler’s Journey Continues . . . Simply Magical

Those of you who read the story of Traveler, the crow, will probably enjoy this story. You may find it as amazing as I do. I can’t explain what happened, but it deepens my belief that things occur in the animal world that we have no knowledge of. It tells me that they understand things, feel emotions and communicate with one another so much more than we give them credit for.

If you read the story I wrote in November, 2007, you know that I had not seen Traveler since June of that year. You know that some time at the end of October two crows had started hanging around my house. They were there every morning calling and carrying on. One was much more vocal than the other and I told myself that it was Traveler and he was telling the other one all about the days when he lived here.

What you don’t know is that about that same time my dog, Abby, had become ill. She was 15 years old so I knew my time with her was limited. But you are never really ready to say good-bye. Traveler and Abby were very good friends and as the days went by and Abby’s illness did not seem to be getting any better, I really started to believe that the noisy crow was Traveler. I wondered if he somehow knew that Abby was ill and he had come to be near me and his buddy, Abby.

Every day for the three weeks that Abby was ill, the two crows were here. They would sit up in the big maple tree and talk and talk and watch me if I stepped out onto the deck. They seemed to listen to me when I talked back to them. But they never came down onto the deck. I so wanted them to. I so wanted proof that it was Traveler.

On November 14 th, 2007, I lost my best buddy. Abby died while I was at work that morning. It was a Wednesday and it was one of those cloudy gray November mornings. That morning there was only one crow in the maple tree. There had always been the two of them since they had started coming around. This day there was only one and he sat up in the highest branches of the tree. He sat there very still and quiet. It was as if he was standing guard, waiting for something, motionless and silent.

I know the moment that Abby died. I was looking at a lab sample under the microscope and all of a sudden I had the strongest feeling of peace come over me. I said to myself, “Abby just died.” I went home for lunch and I knew before I even entered the house that I would find that Abby had passed away. There were more of my cats waiting to greet me at the door than there usually were. It was as if they were trying to tell me something was wrong. I found Abby on the bed where she had been spending most of her time. She just looked like she was sleeping. My heart was broken and I just laid down next to her and held her for a while and cried.

The two crows have not been back since that morning. I do believe it was Traveler and a friend. I believe they somehow knew Abby was dying and came to be near us at this sad time. I believe the lone crow who sat so still in the tree the morning of her death was Traveler. I believe he was mourning and was waiting to escort her spirit to the heavens. Simply magical.

The End & The Beginning
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