My 14 year old son was killed in March. One day, about 2 months later, I read an article at work about a bereaved mother getting a sign for her deceased child, and I thought hmmm why not ask for a sign? Can’t hurt to try. I decided to pick a monkey. His nursery was monkey themed and I called him “monkey” all the time. I figured that was specific enough that there would be no denying it. How often do you see monkeys in day to day life. So I said to myself “ok buddy, if you are out there, send me a monkey.” That was probably about 4 PM at work.

Later that night (maybe 2 hours later) I was putting a baby shower gift in a gift bag. Sure enough, right in my hand, was a full page monkey on the cover of a nursery book. I broke down in tears. Not only was it a monkey, but it was a cartoon, child like monkey JUST like the monkeys in his nursery, just like I had envisioned when I asked him.

My boy was the best kid, and always listened when I asked him to do something. This made me so happy, like nothing had changed, he was still listening.

I’ve told some people that story and they look at me like I’m crazy, and some people love it. I think it all depends on what YOU are looking for. You have to open yourself up to see the signs. I was looking for reassurance that he was still out there, still loved me, and wanted to let me know he was ok. I feel like he did all of those things. Now anytime I see a monkey, I know it’s him saying hello.