On the Wings of Hope: The Dragonfly Story

On the Wings of Hope: The Dragonfly Story

Summary

“On the Wings of Hope: The Dragonfly Story,” also referred to as a resurrection fable, uses the dragonfly’s life cycle as a metaphor for transformation and hope in grief. The story follows a water bug’s journey to becoming a dragonfly, unable to return to its former life but finding solace in its new existence. The author, Beth Brown, shares her personal connection to the dragonfly fable, using it as a symbol of hope and healing after losing her son to suicide.

Introduction

“On the Wings of Hope: The Dragonfly Story” unfolds the heartfelt journey of the dragonfly, a beautiful fable that captures the remarkable transformation this creature undergoes, starting its life as a modest nymph hidden in the depths of the water. This poignant narrative intricately weaves together themes of personal growth and resilience, revealing how the dragonfly’s metamorphosis embodies not just the exquisite nature of change, but also serves as a comforting tale that helps us understand death and find hope in grief.

• As the dragonfly gracefully emerges from its watery cocoon, it offers a tender reminder to embrace the cycles of existence and find peace in the promise of renewal and the hopeful possibility of rebirth.
• Powerful and life-affirming, “On the Wings of Hope: The Dragonfly Story,” offers a glimpse of hope in the wake of deep sorrow and grief, reminding us that transformation is possible even after enduring profound loss. This story of the dragonfly is also known as a resurrection fable.

“On the Wings of Hope: The Dragonfly Story” shares the story of the dragonfly, an oft-told fable of the transformation of the dragonfly, and a story that has long been used to explain death and instill hope in grief. The Dragonfly Story is also known as a resurrection fable.

A Note from the Author

This resurrection fable, titled “On the Wings of Hope: The Dragonfly Story,” is deeply personal for me, as it was the symbol and story told at my son’s funeral, a moment that encapsulated a deep longing for hope amidst despair. Powerful and life-affirming, “On the Wings of Hope: The DragonflyStory,” offers a glimpse of hope in the wake of deep sorrow and grief, reminding us that transformation is possible even after enduring profound loss.

The story follows a water bug’s journey to becoming a dragonfly, unable to return to its former life but finding solace in its new existence. The author, Beth Brown, shares her personal connection to the dragonfly fable, using it as a symbol of hope and healing after losing her son to suicide.

The story elegantly illustrates the journey from darkness to light, encouraging us to embrace the beauty of life, even when it feels overwhelmingly difficult. This narrative resonates not only with my family’s experience but also with anyone who has navigated the challenging landscapes of mourning.

The title “On the Wings of Hope: The Dragonfly Story” refers to a deeply personal blog post by author Beth Brown. The blog entry connects a well-known fable about a dragonfly’s transformation to her experience of profound grief and hope after losing her son, Dylan, to suicide. 

The Dragonfly Story and Its Meaning for Grief and Healing

The blog post combines a traditional resurrection fable, the dragonfly story, with Brown’s personal story of loss. 

• The story: A colony of water bugs lives at the bottom of a pond. They notice that every so often, one of their members climbs a lily stalk and vanishes forever. The bugs promise to send a messenger back, but the next one to climb transforms into a magnificent dragonfly and finds she can no longer return to the watery world.
• The meaning: For the grieving, the story offers comfort that those who have passed on have not simply disappeared. They have undergone a glorious transformation into a different and more beautiful form of existence. 

The author’s personal connection

In her blog, “My Forever Son,” Beth Brown shares her journey of grieving her son, who died by suicide at age 20. 

• Symbol of hope: Brown writes that the dragonfly fable was shared at her son’s funeral and became a personal symbol of hope for her family.
• Resilience and healing: The story embodies themes of resilience and the possibility of finding hope even after deep sorrow. She recounts how she learned to carry both the ache and the love for her son, carrying his memory forward.
• Shared journey: Brown uses her blog to connect with others who have experienced similar loss, sharing her story to offer empathy and understanding. 

Meaning of “On the Wings of Hope: The Dragonfly Story” in My Forever Son

• “On the Wings of Hope: The Dragonfly Story“ refers to a blog post and a broader collection of writings from My Forever Son: Healing After Losing a Child to Suicide written by a mother, Beth Brown, who lost her son, Dylan, to suicide. This body of work combines a traditional allegory–the dragonfly resurrection story–with the author’s personal journey of grief.
• The dragonfly story (also known as a resurrection fable) is an ancient and widely-told tale that uses the insect’s lifecycle as a metaphor for death and new life.
• The water bugs: The fable begins with a colony of water bugs (dragonfly nymphs) living happily at the bottom of a pond.
• The promise: When one of them climbs up a lily stalk and vanishes from view forever, the others promise that the next one to ascend will return to tell them what happened.
• The transformation: When the time comes for one of the bugs to climb, it undergoes a transformation on a lily pad, emerging as a radiant dragonfly with wings.
• The new perspective: The dragonfly soars above the pond, seeing a beautiful new world it could not have imagined before. It looks down and sees its old friends, but realizes it cannot return to their watery home and that they wouldn’t recognize its new form anyway.
• The promise kept: The dragonfly then understands its friends will only understand what happened when they, too, make the journey of transformation. In this way, its promise is ultimately kept.

The Dragonfly Story: A Powerful Symbol of Hope After Losing My Son to Suicide

• For author Beth Brown, The Dragonfly Story became a powerful symbol of hope after her son’s funeral.
• A personal connection: Brown’s blog, My Forever Son, connects the timeless allegory to her deeply personal story of losing her son Dylan.
• Grief and transformation: Her writings explore her journey through profound grief while also embracing hope and healing. She explains that her blog, My Forever Son, became her “sanctuary,” a place where her pain and love for her son could coexist.
• Embracing both ache and love: The work embraces the idea of “carrying both ache and love” has enabled the author to find hope again, not in spite of her loss, but because of the deepened perspective that grief has given her. The Dragonfly Resurrection Story, for the author, symbolizes hope for connecting again with her son someday.

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My Forever Son

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Table of Contents

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The Story of the Dragonfly: On the Wings of Hope

Clinging On the Wings of Hope

Down below the surface of a quiet pond lived a little colony of water bugs. They were a happy colony, living far away from the sun.

For many months they were very busy, scurrying over the soft mud on the bottom of the pond. They noticed that every once in a while one of their colony seemed to lose interest in going about its business with its friends. Clinging to the stem of a pond lily, it gradually climbed out of sight and was never seen again.

Climbing Up the Lily Stalk

“Look!” said one of the water bugs to another. “One of our friends in the colony is climbing up the lily stalk. Where do you suppose she is going?” Up, up, up it went slowly. Even as they watched, the water bug disappeared from sight. Its friends waited and waited but it didn’t return.

“That’s funny!” said one water bug to another. “Weren’t they happy here?” asked a second water bug. “Where do you suppose they went?” wondered a third. No one had an answer. They were greatly puzzled.

Finally one of the water bugs gathered them all together. “I have an idea” they said. “The next one of us who climbs up the lily stalk must promise to come back and tell us why they left and where they went.” “We promise,” they said solemnly.

Finding Hope and Healing in The Dragonfly Story

One spring day, not long after, the very water bug who had suggested the plan found himself climbing up the lily stalk. Up, up, up he went. Before they knew what was happening, he had broken through the surface of the water, and fallen onto the broad, green lily pad above.

He was so tired, and the sun felt so warm, that he decided to take a nap. As he slept, his body changed and when he awoke, he had turned into a beautiful blue-tailed dragonfly with broad wings and a slender body designed for flying.

Wings Bring Flight and Transformation to the Dragonfly

He couldn’t believe the startling change he saw in his body. His movement revealed four silver wings and a long tail. Even as he struggled, he felt an impulse to move his wings. The warmth of the sun soon dried the moisture from the new body. He moved his wings again and suddenly found himself up above the water. He had become a dragonfly.

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On the Wings of Hope: The Dragonfly Soars on Gossamer Wings

Swooping and Dipping on the Wings of Hope

Swooping and dipping in great curves, the dragonfly flew through the air. He felt exhilarated in his new environment. By and by, the new dragonfly lighted happily on a lily pad to rest. Then it was that he chanced to look below to the bottom of the pond.

Why, he was right above his old friends, the water bugs! There they were, scurrying about, just as he had been doing some time before. Then the dragonfly remembered the promise: “The next one of us who climbs up the lily stalk will come back and tell where they went and why.”

Without thinking, the dragonfly darted down. Suddenly he hit the surface of the water and bounced away. Now that he was a dragonfly, he could no longer go into the water.

The Dragonfly Story: Rising On Wings of Flight

“I can’t return!” he said in dismay. “At least I tried, but I can’t keep my promise. Even if I could go back, not one of the water bugs would know me in my new body. I guess I’ll just have to wait until they become dragonflies too. Then they’ll understand what happened to me, where I went, and this wonderful new life I’ve been given.”

And the dragonfly winged off happily into its wonderful new world of sun and air.

“I can’t return!” the dragonfly said in dismay. “At least I tried, but I can’t keep my promise. Even if I could go back, not one of the water bugs would know me in my new body. I guess I’ll just have to wait until they become dragonflies too. Then they’ll understand what happened to me, where I went, and this wonderful new life I’ve been given.”

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Related Reads

• Rising from Grief: Finding Hope After Suicide Loss
• On Baby’s Breath and Angel Wings: A Grieving Mother’s Poem
• Losing My Only Child to Suicide: A Mother’s Story
• Surviving Suicide Grief: “Does the Pain Ever End?”
• Navigating Grief: Three Years After Losing My Son to Suicide

Want to Know More About The Dragonfly?

“Dragonflies: Learning to Swim Before They Fly”

by Jackie Woodcock

Dragonflies are nature’s little aerial acrobats.  Likened in bodily shape to a helicopter with numerous maneuvers, they can fly straight up and down, forward and backward, hover and even mate mid-air. There are 7,000 species of dragonflies and mayflies, the dragon flies smaller cousin, in the world.

The Adirondacks are home to approximately 30 species of dragonflies. They typically stay close to water; most species of dragonfly spend the majority of their life underwater or close to the surface of the water. Depending on the species, dragonflies prefer ponds, marshes, or streams.

A dragonfly has a life span of more than a year, but very little of that life is actually as an adult dragonfly. There are three stages of the dragonfly life cycle, the egg, the nymph, and the adult dragonfly. Most of the life cycle of a dragonfly is lived out in the nymph stage where they aren’t seen at all, unless you are swimming underwater in a lake. . .

Jackie Woodcock, Excerpt from “Dragonflies: Learning to swim before they fly“

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My Forever Son

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Beth Brown, Author

About the Author

Beth Brown is a writer, educator, and bereaved mother who shares her journey of healing after losing her only son, Dylan, to suicide. Through poetry, essays, and her blog My Forever Son, Beth offers comfort and hope to others navigating grief, honoring the enduring bond between parent and child and celebrating the small joys that illuminate the path toward healing.

Meet the Author: Writing Through the Abyss

by Beth Brown

There are places that cannot be mapped, only entered—terrains of loss where language falters and the heart, stripped of its certainties, must learn to speak again. I am Beth Brown, a mother whose son, Dylan, died by suicide at twenty. My life, once measured by the ordinary rhythms of teaching literature and nurturing a child, was pierced in two: before and after. In the aftermath, I found myself wandering a wilderness where time bent, memory ached, and the world’s colors dimmed to the hush of grief.

On baby’s breath and angel wings,
You bring me love yet still,
— “On Baby’s Breath and Angel Wings”

I did not choose to become a chronicler of sorrow, but grief, relentless and unbidden, pressed its ink into my hands. I wrote because I could not bear the silence. I wrote because the ache demanded witness. In poetry, I found a way to hold both the weight of absence and the persistence of love—a language for the unspeakable, a vessel for memory, a place where my son’s name could still be spoken.

He left too soon,
Lifting life from June,
Casting torrents of rain.
— “He Left Too Soon”

There are nights when the world tilts, and I am returned to the moment of loss, the fracture that remade me. Yet even in the deepest dark, I have learned to listen for the faint music of hope, the pulse of love that endures beyond death.

Beat still my heart,
Beat still my mind,
Weary though thou art,
Carry his love along with thine,
Though heavy on thy shoulders
Crost fields throughout all time.
— “Beat Still My Heart”

My poems are not answers. They are offerings—fragments of a life lived in the shadow of absence, pieced together with longing and the fierce, unyielding devotion of a mother’s heart. They are the record of a journey through the labyrinth of grief, where each turn reveals both the ache of what is lost and the quiet radiance of what remains.

My child sleeps in a cradle of stars,
Gently rocked by the moon
Lullabies in his heart,
Heavens in galaxies swirl round to the sound
Of a mother and child’s love beating on.

Meteor showers, on the darkest of nights,
Bring comfort and joy to my child’s delight,
Aurora Borealis tints sky blue and green,
Where my child remembers his mother in dreams.

–“Falling Stars in a Moonless Sky”

There are questions that haunt the bereaved: Could I have known? Could I have saved you? The mind circles these unanswerable riddles, but the heart, battered and tender, learns to rest in the mystery.

I’d have reached right in to your dark night’s soul—
I would have held on, I would have clutched you,
I would have never let you go
But you told me “Mom I love you”
Oh my child, if I’d only known.
— “Once Upon a Blue-Sky Moon”

In the landscape of loss, I have discovered that love is not diminished by death. It is transformed—becoming both ache and solace, shadow and light, the filament that binds the living to the lost.

Body, mind, soul, rough and ragged,
Weeping tears falling still throughout time,
Carrying weight of mourning and grieving
Falling broken when thou wert mine.
— “Beat Still My Heart”

I write for those who walk this wilderness with me—for the mothers and fathers, siblings and friends, whose lives have been marked by the unthinkable. My hope is that in these poems, you will find not only the echo of your own sorrow, but also the quiet assurance that you are not alone.

Starlight for a mobile twinkling ‘ere so bright,
To remember his mother that darkest of nights,
When slipped he from her grasp and fell through this earth,
Tumbling still planets, sun, folding time in rebirth.
— “Falling Stars in a Moonless Sky”

That we might understand we cannot separate mental illness from physical illness and that try as we might, we cannot see inside another’s pain.

–“Ode to Suicide: That We Might Understand”

And how my heart keeps on beating
Is a mystery to all,
For without you beside me
Through life’s depth I crawl.

I live now life backwards
My heart beating in time,
To the life that we lived
When you, child, were mine.

Try as I might
I can’t seem to live,
For my dreams all belonged,
To your future forward lived.

—“Bury My Heart”

If you have come here searching for words to companion your grief, I welcome you. My poetry is not a map, but a lantern—casting light on the path we walk, together and alone, toward a horizon where love, undiminished, endures.

But boughs break and love falls through the cracks in the earth,
And the centre can’t hold when orbits, slung far, break their girth,
Gravitational interference, passing stars in the night,
Jetting orbs, falling stars in a moonless sky.
— “Falling Stars in a Moonless Sky”

Grief is wild—untamed, unending, and full of shadows. Yet within its depths, I have found moments of light: a memory, a poem, the gentle rustle of leaves, the warmth of a cup of tea. My words are both ache and love, a testament that even in the deepest sorrow, we can find meaning, connection, and—sometimes—hope. Through poetry, I reach for my son and for all who walk this path. If you find yourself here, know that you are not alone, and that love—like poetry—endures.

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If you wish to read more, my collection, Bury My Heart: 19 Poems for Grief and Healing After Losing a Child to Suicide is available on Amazon Kindle. and many other reflections await you at myforeverson.com.

Bury My Heart

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The Story of My Forever Son

Online Directory for Coping with Grief, Trauma, and Distress

After A Suicide Resource Directory: Coping with Grief, Trauma, and Distress
http://www.personalgriefcoach.net
This online directory links people who are grieving after a suicide death to resources and information.

Alliance of Hope for Suicide Survivors
http://www.allianceofhope.org
This organization for survivors of suicide loss provides information sheets, a blog, and a community forum through which survivors can share with each other.

Friends for Survival
http://www.friendsforsurvival.org
This organization is for suicide loss survivors and professionals who work with them. It produces a monthly newsletter and runs the Suicide Loss Helpline (1-800-646-7322). It also published Pathways to Purpose and Hope, a guide to building a community-based suicide survivor support program.

HEARTBEAT: Grief Support Following Suicide
http://heartbeatsurvivorsaftersuicide.org
This organization has chapters providing support groups for survivors of suicide loss in Colorado and some other states. Its website provides information sheets for survivors and a leader’s guide on how to start a new chapter of HEARTBEAT.

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Resources and Support Groups

Parents of Suicides and Friends & Families of Suicides (POS-FFOS)
http://www.pos-ffos.com
This website provides a public message board called Suicide Grief Support Forum, a listserv for parents, a separate listserv for others, and an online chat room for survivors of suicide loss.

Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS)
https://www.taps.org/suicide
This organization provides resources and programs for people grieving the loss of a loved one who died while serving in the U.S. armed forces or as a result of their service. It has special resources and programs for suicide loss survivors.

United Survivors
https://unitesurvivors.org/
This organization is a place where people who have experienced suicide loss, suicide attempts, and suicidal thoughts and feelings, and their friends and families, can connect to use their lived experience to advocate for policy, systems, and cultural change.

Professional Organizations

American Association of Suicidology
suicidology.org • (202) 237-2280
Promotes public awareness, education and training for professionals, and sponsors an annual Healing After Suicide conference for suicide loss survivors. In addition to the conference, they offer a coping with suicide grief handbook by Jeffrey Jackson. This booklet is also available in Spanish.

The Compassionate Friends
compassionatefriends.org • (877) 969-0010
Offers resources for families after the death of a child. They sponsor support groups, newsletters and online support groups throughout the country, as well as an annual national conference for bereaved families.

The Dougy Center
The National Center for Grieving Children & Families
dougy.org • (503) 775-5683
Publishes extensive resources for helping children and teens who are grieving a death including death by suicide. Resources include the “Children, Teens and Suicide Loss” booklet created in partnership with AFSP. This booklet is also available in Spanish.

Link’s National Resource Center for Suicide Prevention and Aftercare
thelink.org/nrc-for-suicide-prevention-aftercar • 404-256-2919
Dedicated to reaching out to those whose lives have been impacted by suicide and connecting them to available resources.

Tragedy Assistance Programs for Survivors (TAPS)
taps.org/suicide • (800) 959-TAPS (8277)
Provides comfort, care and resources to all those grieving the death of a military loved one through a national peer support network and connection to grief resources, all at no cost to surviving families and loved ones.

LOSS
losscs.org
Offers support groups, remembrance events, companioning, suicide postvention and prevention education, and training to other communities interested in developing or enhancing their suicide postvention and prevention efforts.

Online resources

Alliance of Hope
allianceofhope.org
Provides a 24/7 online forum for suicide loss survivors.

Help Guide
helpguide.org
Provides resources and tips for how to navigate the loss of someone to suicide.

Parents of Suicides (POS) – Friends and Families of Suicides (FFOS)
pos-ffos.com
An internet community to connect parents, friends, and family that have lost someone to suicide.

SAVE: Suicide Awareness Voices of Education
save.org/programs/suicide-loss-support • (952) 946-7998
Hosts resources for suicide loss survivor including a support group database, newsletter, survivor conference and the Named Memorial Program, which offers a special way to honor your loved one.

Siblings Survivors of Suicide Loss
siblingsurvivors.com
Provides resources and a platform to connect with others that have lost a sibling to suicide.

Finding professional care and support

Find a mental health provider

• afsp.org/FindAMentalHealthProfessional
• findtreatment.samhsa.gov
• mentalhealthamerica.net/finding-help
• inclusivetherapists.com
• afsp.org/suicide-bereavement-trained-clinicians

Find a provider for prolonged grief

• prolongedgrief.columbia.edu

Find additional resources for marginalized communities

• afsp.org/mental-health-resources-for-marginalized-communities

Crisis Services

988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
988lifeline.org
Call or text 988 (press 1 for Veterans, 2 for Spanish, 3 for LGBTQ+ youth and young adults) or chat 988lifeline.org
A 24-hour, toll-free suicide prevention service available to anyone in suicidal crisis. You will be routed to the closest possible crisis center in your area. With crisis centers across the country, their mission is to provide immediate assistance to anyone seeking mental health services. Call for yourself, or someone you care about. Your call is free and confidential.

Crisis Text Line
crisistextline.org
Text TALK to 741-741 for English
Text AYUDA to 741-741 for Spanish
Provides free, text-based mental health support and crisis intervention by empowering a community of trained volunteers to support people in their moments of need, 24/7.

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