A Sign from the Sky

The view from my deck 7/2/13

Today marked the halfway point of my treatment for Hodgkins Lymphoma.  As my mother drove me home late this afternoon after almost nine hours of appointments and infusions at Dana Farber, the sky grew dark around us.  We talked about the changing, unsettled weather and how it would effect our plans for the holiday weekend.  I kept looking out the passenger window and commenting on the huge dark clouds expanding before us.  By the time I got home the sky was grey and heavy. Rain seemed inevitable. I walked out to my deck to bring in a few of the kids toys before they became waterlogged in the approaching storm.  I carried a scooter and a plastic car across the yard to the shed and closed the door behind me.  As I walked back to the deck, I noticed a beam of sunlight stretching down from the sky. Almost as quickly as it had darkened, the sky seemed to brighten once again. The clouds began to separate and I noted how fast they were moving. As I kept my gaze upward, the expanse of light grew and soon appeared to take the shape of a heart, opening up the sky.  I walked inside to grab my phone to snap a picture of this most extraordinary sight; a dark sky with a bright heart lighting up the heavens.  By the time I returned outside, the atmosphere was even brighter. I looked up for the illuminated heart shape and as I did I noticed more, almost everywhere I looked. Whether the parting clouds separated to reveal sunlight shining through or a puffy Cumulus cloud floated by, they all seemed to take on the shape of a heart.  Not a drop of rain had fallen yet water dripped down my cheek.  I was so moved by what I saw and took it as a sign on this, the day marking the halfway point of my treatment and recovery.  I have felt so much love around me as I have gone through my ordeal, but now, looking up to the sky, I could actually see it and it was beautiful.