Dad always taught me to find joy in life wherever I could. He certainly did. He was as kind and playful as his favorite animal—the dolphin. He collected dolphin sculptures, pictures, anything he came across. For me the dolphin became the symbol of joy.
I was afraid Dad’s cheerfulness might fail him when his doctor scheduled him for a triple bypass. But as Dad prepared for the surgery he reminded me, “You have to enjoy every day God gives you!”
Dad didn’t survive the operation. The day of his funeral my sister and I boarded a boat off the coast of California to scatter Dad’s ashes into the Pacific. We stood together on the deck and tipped the urn upside down. A slight breeze carried Dad’s ashes out over the ocean. “I love you, Dad,” I said. How could I find joy in this? I wanted to ask Dad.
My sister pointed to some movement in the water. “What’s that?”
I leaned over the railing. Something swirled just below the surface. I caught a glimpse of silvery-blue figures cutting through the water. A pod of dolphins! They dove and played with one another right where Dad’s ashes had fallen. I imagined Dad swimming with the dolphins, joyful as ever. How could I not be joyful too?
Read more stories about heavenly angels and angels on earth.
