A woman from Huntington is taking comfort in what she believes is a sign from Heaven after the death of her elderly mother.
It was June 28, a day after the family of Naomi Cook, 73, laid their grandmother to rest in a cemetery near the Old Diboll Highway. She died after declining health meant a stay of more than four years in local nursing homes, according to her daughter, Pat Osburn, 45.
Pat's son J.R., 14, and his father, Roy Osburn, were spending some time together at a deer lease between Zavalla and Huntington. They'd spent the day on four-wheelers, looking for mud holes, J.R.'s favorite pastime.
As they loaded up to go home, a strip of something blue on the ground caught J.R.'s eye. It was a ribbon, tied to a remnant of balloon with a laminated strip of paper attached. The note asked the finder to send a return postcard to a medical center in Red Oak, south of Dallas ? nearly 200 miles away.
Thinking at first it was a birthday balloon, J.R. tucked it away to take home. The meaning of the little note and its cheery ribbon would soon be revealed after his mother got a closer look.
The message was from a group balloon release in May by residents at a health and rehabilitation center in Red Oak in honor of National Nursing Home Week. This year, the observance began on May 14 ? Mother's Day.
Pat called the center to tell them about finding the balloon. The staff squealed and shouted with excitement, she said. According to one staff member, it was the first time in 15 years of sending up balloons that they heard a reply, Pat said.
Some people who hear about what happened may think all the fuss over finding the balloon may be "silly," according to Pat. But to her, it answers the question faced by anyone losing a loved one wanting to know that person is at peace.
"This is what comforts me and my family," Pat said. "This doesn't happen every day. I know she's OK."
The experience has strengthened her personal Christian faith walk 100 percent, Pat said. And there was something else special about finding the balloon.
"My mother's favorite color was blue," she said, smiling.
Pat said she has found an assurance ? blessed assurance ? that her mother is in Heaven. Her experience echoes words from that old, familiar hymn, "Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine! O what a foretaste of glory divine! ... Angels descending bring from above, echoes of mercy, whispers of love."
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