My friend invited me over to his house this weekend for barbecue ribs and beer.  He recently lost his wife to a 5-year struggle with cancer.  His web site tracks the number of days that it’s been since she passed away (April 1st).  I asked him about the counter.

“Oh, that’s just a javascript counter,” he said.  “I was going to have it track the days and the seconds too, but I figured that might be a bit too much.”

As we sat in the back yard, his attention was caught by hummingbirds congregating around a feeder.  “There’s a lot of them,” he said, sounding surprised.

He called to the people in the house to come see.  His 8-year old daughter was at a friend’s place, but the house buzzed with everyone else staying there: his wife’s mother, her sister, and the sister’s husband and son. 

My friend explained to me: “As we were putting Cheryl into the ground, a hummingbird came and hovered right over her casket.  It was so striking that it made people gasp. I found out later that the hummingbird is Cheryl’s ‘totem animal,’ according to Native American folklore.”

He said, “I’m about as card carrying an atheist as they come.  I think life is a random event, and I think the hummingbird was just a coincidence.  But I still find comfort in the symbolism. That’s why I put up the feeders.  I’ve seen one or two birds there, but this is the first time I’ve seen multiple hummingbirds.”

Everyone joined us on the deck.  His other daughter also came wobbling out, a two-year old blob of pink clothes.  She smiled at me shyly.

“See?” My friend said to his family, sweeping his arm towards the feeders.  “It’s the first time we’ve seen multiple hummingbirds.”

The sun felt good on my neck and face.  The barbecue puffed smoke.  The beer in my hand, which my friend had brewed himself, tasted faintly of apricot.