Balloons on the Beach

We continue to remember Jacob fondly, and on Christmas Eve we released several balloons at the beach in his memory.

Our family was able to spend quality time together over Christmas break in Florida. The warm weather and the sunshine belayed the dreary thoughts of a cold winter back home in Indiana. The warmth, and the time spent with family, also helped cushion the thought that we would spend this Christmas without Jacob.

Yet, those thoughts were still prevalent. Rather than dwell on them in despair, we chose to celebrate his memory by releasing balloons. We took turn writing on the face of the balloons – messages of love, and of loss. Following a quiet moment at the water’s edge, five of us released our balloons into the warm breeze. They were carried away swiftly over the blue water. Each balloon stayed close to the others, forming a “box” pattern in their early journey. But they began to move in such a way as to create what appeared to be a “J”.

The fact that the balloons  eventually took on the “J” pattern is very likely a coincidence. Yet, there is no mistaking that this coincidence is meaningful to us as we celebrated the memory of Jacob. Despite the science of air currents, aerodynamics, and the properties of helium, I still smile at the idea that maybe, just maybe, God nudged those balloons in just the right way to bring us comfort. My brother has suggested that moments like this could be considered “sprinkles of Grace”; and I have yet to come up with a better description.

The “J” pattern formed while the balloons were very high in the sky – almost at the edge of our ability to see them. This brought to mind the fact that so many blessings may be hidden in plain sight and if we are still and calmly focus, they may be revealed to us and we will be able to appreciate them all the more. I took a few photos of the balloons but the resolution is not quite adequate to make the image clear. So, the image will remain in our memories – like so many of the images of Jacob.