The Hardest Blow of All

On the morning of January 26th, 2009, the phone rang.

It was about 9:30 in the morning.

I picked up the phone. It was my dad. His voice was quivering.
He said, “Eric, I don’t know how to tell you this, so I will just tell you…” He was starting to fall apart when he said..

“Eric, your mom passed away last night”.

“She died in her sleep. When I went to wake her this morning, she wouldn’t wake up”

I had already had all I could take. I couldn’t take this.

This to me was to become the final blow that would rock me and crush me and leave me reeling in such pain that I couldn’t imagine how I could survive. Not to even mention what this would do to my dad.

I don’t have any adequate words to express how I felt, or even how I feel today, with her gone. But what I will do is tell you a lot more about her a little later.

This book is dedicated to her. She was the one who opened my eyes, my mind and my heart to the beauty and majesty of nature.

Especially a love of the birds.

She was my staunchest ally. My defender. My teacher. My nurturer, my friend. She instilled in me the curiosity and desire to learn more. To experience more. To see what the world was all about.

My mother.

God is so very fortunate to have her with him. I miss her every day. I will for the rest of my life.

Her leaving this world for the next also would come to inspire me to write this book, pursue my dreams, and share my photos and experiences. In some ways, I hope, for her to speak through me and thus share with others the joy and beauty of the birds, and of nature, and the love for them she instilled in me.