Anime Angel

One summer day while talking with a neighbor, whom I affectionately call "Sister Mary," suddenly an adorable brown bunny emerged out of no where, and hopped very close to where we were standing outside.

What was so unusual about the bunny's sudden emergence was the fact that it lingered near us for quite some time. Both Sister Mary and I remarked how unusual it was for the bunny to be so close to us and linger near us for so long. In short, it seemed as if the bunny's lingering was purposeful.

Later on that evening, I received news that would forever change my life; I learned that my beloved 98 year-old grandmother was gravely ill and near death. When I learned from my stepmother and younger brother that my grandmother was dying, I was overcome with grief and guilt. Guilt in the sense that I was very close to my grandmother and had not been to visit her at the nursing home that she lived at for several weeks, and none of my family members told me she was gravely ill. I felt in some way that I had failed her, for she was the one person that loved me unconditionally.

As strange as it sounds, I knew God was speaking through the bunny that my neighbor and I encountered earlier that evening. As I pondered why the bunny was so unusually close to my neighbor and me, I realized that God was trying to send a message through the bunny, that someone near me was in trouble. That someone near me of course, was my grandmother Elsie.

A few days later after my grandmother's funeral, I saw the same adorable brown bunny. Seeing this bunny again gave me a sense of peace. It was as if God put this same adorable brown bunny in my pathway, to send a message that my grandmother was at peace and it was okay to move on with my life, guilt-free, for despite the fact that I did know that she was gravely ill and near death: she knew how much I loved her.

Two months later, God put another special animal in my life; a stray male cat whom I named Malachi. I named him after the prophet Malachi, which means "the message."

Malachi, like the adorable brown bunny, suddenly appeared in my life. Malachi's sudden appearance in my life, occurred at the right time, for I was still dealing with the death of my grandmother, and still felt very sad. Simply put, God placed Malachi in my life to fill a very needed voided and to convey yet another message: "Here is someone who needs your love and care and will also provide you with peace."