Pet Loss Library

My Sign from Beyond

Nunzio was my closest friend. Fourteen years we spent together since the day I brought him home as a puppy. Our love for each other became very strong. We lived alone in my home in upstate New York.

Because I have trouble sleeping the only time we were apart was at night at bedtime. Nunzio had a big warm bed in my heated garage and was free to roam the large fenced in backyard at night. Each morning about sunrise he would find his way to my bedroom window and would scratch just below it until he woke me up. Then I would bring him in, place him on the bed next to me, where he would quickly fall asleep in the bend of my right arm. I loved that part of the day.

Unfortunately, like all of us, Nunzi was beginning to lose his fight with age. He was losing his eyesight as well as his ability to hear. On the evening of June 26th, although only out of my sight for a few minutes he walked into the swimming pool and drowned. I found him there and after many attempts to resusitate him failed, I buried him in the backyard which he loved.

My grief was enormous. I missed him and cried every day. Mornings were the hardest and I would get up and go to the grave and then walk the backyard as if looking for him. Nights were even more difficult than before and sleep brought constant dreams of him which only left me more depressed and empty in the morning when I awoke.

About two months after his death, I awoke one morning to the sound of scratching on my bedroom window. Startled I sat up to find a small bird flying desperately up and down the glass looking right at me. I thought perhaps it saw its reflection and was fighting with itself as I had in the past seen other agressive birds do.

I finally got up and went to my kitchen to make my morning coffee. The kitchen is at the opposite end of the house, and on the opposite side of the house as well. Busy at the kitchen sink, I was again startled by the sound of nails scratching on glass. I turned and there was the same small bird trying frantically to get my attention. After a short while it left only to come back in the afternoon.

This bird returned every day for about three months. Friends and family saw it and all believed it might possibly be Nunzio. It actually frightened my mother one day when she was in my home alone, by its extreme efforts to get her attention. (She too was very close to my dog)

I am an adult male, working in law enforcement. I have always been a very spiritual person and do believe in an afterlife.