After Losing Her Son, Grieving Mother Finds Comfort From Heaven: "The Signs Kept Coming!"

For the last 20 years Woman’s World magazine has featured the weekly “My Guardian Angel” column, where real women share first-person accounts of their amazing encounters with Angels. Now, we are sharing those heartwarming stories of loving comfort, Heaven-sent helpers and miraculous rescues online with the mission of continuing to spread hope and light.

Here, Woman’s World reader Ricci Hatch shares how she began receiving amazing signs that comforted her broken heart after losing her son.

Ricci Hatch's Guardian Angel story told in her own words:

"'Ma’am, I’m sorry to tell you that your son has drowned,' said the police officer on a beautiful, sunny day in early summer. How could this be? My son had recently graduated from high school with interests to pursue art and animation.

Brandt and Ricci's husband, Mike at graduation
Brandt (left) at his graduation with Ricci's husband, Mike

"Two days before his passing, I hugged him as he left to go camping with his best friends near a local river. The weather was bright and warm, but the water was still extremely cold. While swimming across the river, my son struggled due to hypothermia and, though they tried, his friends couldn’t save him.

"Early the next morning, I sat in my son’s bedroom quietly crying. On his desk was his art sketch pad. I recalled him saying that he had been drawing his dreams. On the page was a robed angel with wings kneeling by a river with a hand raised as if blessing the river.

Brandt's drawing of an Angel by a river that he saw in his dream
Brandt's drawing of an Angel by a river that he saw in his dream

"Suddenly, three knocks echoed in my ear. I was open to the idea that our deceased loved ones can send us signs through a variety of ways, and I felt the knocks were a sign from my son. I hoped for more.

"The following day, a friend of my son told me he had woke to see a spiderweb hanging from his ceiling. Stuck in the web was a single glitter heart confetti!

Brandt's friend found a piece of heart-shaped confetti entangled in a spider web
Brandt's friend found a piece of heart-shaped confetti entangled in a spider web

"Another friend said that a deer walked ahead of him all the way to the friend’s house, as if he knew where the friend lived. Many friends and family also started having unusual deer encounters.

"One day, a loud 'whoosh' filled my yard as hundreds of white doves landed on the patio. As they flew away, white feathers gathered in the window screens.

Dove feathers fell on Ricci's back patio after hundreds of doves flew around the day after Brandt passed
Dove feathers fell on Ricci's back patio after hundreds of doves flew around the day after Brandt passed

"A few weeks later at the pet store, my family fell in love with a white dove. We gasped to learn that the name given by the previous owner was Peace!

Peace, the pet white dove, who came to live with Ricci shortly after Brandt passed
Peace, the pet white dove, who came to live with Ricci shortly after Brandt passed

"Peace brought us joy and comfort for many years and was a reminder that our loved ones are always with us."

My Guardian Angel expert weighs in…

Angel expert, Sunny Dawn Johnston
Angel expert, Sunny Dawn Johnston

“This story is filled with so many great signs from Ricci’s son. It often seems like the signs are few and far between or that they are random. However, I believe that Ricci’s experience and those of her son’s friends and family having similar signs and messages proves the point,” says Sunny Dawn Johnson, a global authority on the angelic realm, with a portfolio of 22 books, including popular titles such as Invoking the Archangels, The Love Never Ends, and 365 Days of Angel Prayers. "Our loved ones are with us after they pass, and because they don’t have a body, they can be with all of us, like the deer showing up in so many unique ways. These are all such beautiful reminders of a beloved son and friend…and that life -continues after death.” Read more of Sunny’s insightful stories here.

Do you have an Angel story to share?

Send your story, along with a clear photo of yourself and your name, address and phone number to: [email protected]. By submitting your story, you are granting Woman’s World magazine permission to use it and your photo in the print magazine, on our website and/or in future special issue publications. Submissions may be edited for style.


Want to read more Guardian Angel encounters?

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A version of this article originally appeared in our print magazine, Woman's World.