Sonny in the Sky
reader miracleIt was my first
time flying alone since my
husband, Sonny, had passed
away. In spite of my fears,
I decided to go. I asked
God for guidance.
When we flew
together, Sonny
and I would each
buy a drink with our
meal. In exchange
for my drink, my
husband would give me
his dessert. In the middle
of this solo trip, I realized
I had not eaten my dessert.
When I looked down at it,
I couldn’t believe what I saw.
Printed in bold letters on the
little round tinfoil cover were
the words “Sonny’s Ice Cream.”
—Gloria Arroyo
phoenix, arizonaemblazoned above a drawing of Ariel
from the Disney film The Little Mer-
maid. Desiree and her father had of-
ten watched it.
The child’s eyes shone as they ar-
ranged flowers on Ken’s grave. It was a
beautiful day, with a slight breeze rip-
pling the eucalyptus trees. Then De-
siree dictated a letter to her dad. “Tell
him, ‘Happy birthday, I love you and
miss you,’” she rattled off. “‘I hope
you get this and can write to me on
my birthday in January.’”
Trish wrote the message and their
address on a small piece of paper,
which was then wrapped in plas-
tic and tied to the end of the string
on the balloon. Finally, Desiree re-
leased the balloon.
For almost an hour, they watched
the shining spot of silver grow
smaller. “OK,” Trish said at last.
“Time to go home.” Rhonda and Trish
were beginning to walk slowly from
the grave when they heard Desiree
shout excitedly, “Did you see that?
I saw Daddy reach down and take it!”
The balloon, visible just moments
earlier, had disappeared. “Now
Dad’s going to write back to me,”
Desiree declared as she walked
past them toward the car.O
n a cold November morn-
ing on Prince Edward Island
in eastern Canada, 32-year-
old Wade MacKinnon pulled on his
waterproof duck-hunting gear and
jumped into his pickup. Wade, a forestGloria and her husband, Sonnycourtesy gloria arroyo
rd.com | dec 2018 )jan 2019 67