I’ve been meaning to write about this magical moment for nearly two weeks, but what can I say? I hadn’t been home in almost two months and I had some very precious time to make up for. For those who didn’t know, I was tending to my grandfather who needed to enter hospice. It was all very emotional and the fact that it took place over the holidays, a normally depressing time of year for me, made it ever so much harder. However it was also a good time, a wonderful opportunity to really get to know my grandfather and be there with him for these final months.
That being said, the flight home was bitter sweet.
Yes, I was looking forward to coming home, seeing my husband and ‘kids’ celebrating Christmas three weeks late – just being home. However I was also worried about leaving my grandfather, the uncertainty of the future, how much time he has left, whether he’d be alright without me (even for a short period of time) – my feelings were conflicted. Top that with horrible ear pain every single time I fly… I was not looking forward to the planes decent.
So I turned on my MP3 player, flipped through my list, and stopped at a song that means the world to me – one I hadn’t heard in months. As the song began playing I was already feeling the pressure begin to build in my ears. The shooting pain I feel behind my jaw as it travels down my neck. The headache pain that eventually causes near nausea, the knowledge that it won’t stop until we get closer to the ground… I braced myself, focused on the music and stared out the window.
Come Home by One Republic
The scene that played TO the music was absolutely breathtaking!
It started with the angle of the plane’s wing . Looking straight down to the fields thousands of feet below, the sky was clear, not a single cloud on THIS side of the wing. However on the other side, all you could see was solid white, clouds as far as the eye could see. The perfect beginning for a two-person song.
Hello world, hope your listening…
Hearing the first part of the lyrics I kept looking down at the fields. I kept thinking about our property, our home, my ‘kids’ playing outside, running around free, running towards me because they had missed me so much. There’s someone I’ve been missing… I was day dreaming about my grand welcome home, my husband’s embrace, the better half of me… that feeling of finally being home, warmed my heart and soul.
Come home, come home…
The second part of the lyrics came next, the woman’s voice, a different perspective but a second soul coming into the fold. All I see is you and me… That was when the clouds, bit by bit, began passing by the threshold of the wing. Like tiny explosions, small flashes of white clouds began speeding by below us and it felt as if it were building up to something remarkable. I realized I was almost home. I was coming home, and as the clouds began shooting past my window faster and faster, filling in the openness of the fields below, it was as if they were filling in me.
That’s when the bridge began.
As the piano picked up tempo and the singer filled my ears with that harmonic oohh, the plane made a turn to the left and started towards the setting sun. The white fluffy clouds that were still below us, but were as far as the eye could see, had now turned a gorgeous bright gold. They lined the clouds like halos. It warmed the scene in this blinding way that simply comforted me in every possible way you could imagine.
During the lyrics of the bridge the scene illuminated my eyes with this massive awesomeness – it was like God’s light just radiating the entire heavens! It filled my soul with this indescribable warmth as the clouds shot by faster and faster, getting closer and closer… until I was full – until the song slowed.
The fight for you is all I’ve ever known… Ever Known…
Then we entered the clouds.
Surrounded by white, nothing but white, the voice, at top pitch, holding come, holding home, was like a single angels song filling my ears.
So Come Home…
White surrounded me – this bright white and nothing else… Come home… I’ve been waiting for you…
When the song ended, no other song played. I stayed in that moment, that lingering nothing-but-whiteness moment, held in time, until the plane came through the underside of the clouds and I could see home come into view. It was truly magical. And as I slowly came out of this moment and began to realize that my MP3 player had stalled and my ears hadn’t hurt and we were getting ready to land – I realized, God had pulled me through a would-be painful time and brought me home.
Loved your story…Thanks for sharing.