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About mybutterflies.com

E-Mail Address:   liz_mcgee@sbcglobal.net 

As I said on the home page, welcome.  My name is Liz and my husband’s name is Kevin.  Kevin takes the photos and we both make the butterfly art for sale on this web.  This is the story of how we got hooked on butterflies.

When we first got our digital camera, we took a trip to Branson, Missouri.  While we were there I saw an brochure advertising The Butterfly Place.  We decided to visit and see what kind of photos we could get with our new camera.  All of them came out real well, and once I got them loaded on my computer at home I thought they were so good that I would use them to make a calendar.  I made several for my family and friends.  Next I decided to make a screensaver.  Both projects turned out well and I started getting ideas about other items I could create using our butterfly photos. 

Mom really loved all the butterfly photos and we decided that when she got well we would go to Branson so she could visit the Butterfly Place.  She was having a very difficult time getting around because of a hip problem.

Later that year I saw an article in the newspaper asking for volunteers to work at the butterfly exhibit during the Texas State Fair, and although I had never done anything like it before, I volunteered.  The State Fair overlapped somewhat with my mom’s plans to have hip replacement surgery, but my sister, brother and I had worked out our times for being there to help mom out, both during and after her stay in the hospital.  I scheduled my volunteer work around those times, and I was able to attend  the classes they held  for the volunteers.  These classes got me even more interested in butterflies.  I should point out here that my mom lived in Oklahoma and I live in Texas. 

Mom had surgery on September 18, 2001, and all was going well.  Dad and I went back and forth to the hospital several times a day.  She was doing great and they even had her up walking.  On the third day, however, we got a call to come to the hospital immediately.  Upon arrival, I learned that she had died.  A blood clot had broken loose and gone straight to her heart and killed her instantly.  Needless to say we were all in shock.  Instead getting her into rehab and then getting well, we had to plan a funeral.

The funeral was scheduled for the following Monday.  I had to go home to Dallas on Saturday to get some clothes for the funeral.  On Saturday afternoon right before I left a strange thing happened -- a big golden moth flew into the house.  This was somewhat unusual because moths usually fly at night.  My brother caught it and was going to kill it but I yelled at him not hurt it.  He thought I was some kind of nut, but he let it go.  It flew around the kitchen for a few moments and then disappeared.

On Sunday before my husband and I left Dallas to go back to Oklahoma  my sister called me and said the most beautiful golden butterfly had been flying around the house all morning.  I was pretty sure it was the moth.  I told her to make sure no one hurt it, and when I got there we’d catch it and take it outside. 

On the way back to Oklahoma  my husband surprised me with a tape he had bought for me -- the sound track from "Oh Brother Where Art Thou.”  We had seen the movie a couple of weeks earlier and we both loved the music, even though he is a pretty hard-core rock and roll fan.  As I read the list of songs, I saw one that I didn’t remember being in movie.  It was “I’ll Fly Away.”  I nearly came unglued because my sister had insisted upon having that as one of the songs for mom’s funeral.  Kevin didn’t know anything about the song selections -- he bought the tape for me because of the movie.  We listened to the tape during the entire trip.

As soon as we arrived I told my sister about the tape and that “I’ll Fly Away” was on it.  Then she told me why she had chosen the song for the funeral.  A few days before her surgery, in fact it was the day after September 11, Mom  had to have a drug-induced stress test.  While they were doing the procedure the technician played the CD from “Oh Brother Where Art Thou.”  Afterward, mom told my sister how the music had helped her get through the ordeal.  She mentioned that they used to sing some of those songs in church when she was a girl, and specifically mentioned that "I’ll Fly Away" was one of songs she really enjoyed.  My sister was planning to buy the CD for her, but she never got the chance.

After we talked about the song, I asked my sister where the butterfly was.  She had last seen it on the window in the bathroom, and that's where we found it.  She said it had been flying around the house every once in awhile like it was watching over what everyone was doing.  I caught it and we both took it outside and let it fly away. 

I felt like the somehow the moth was mother’s spirit watching over the everyone until I got back.  Somehow what I had learned in my butterfly orientation about the metamorphosis of the butterfly seemed to give me comfort, and during that time there seemed to be butterflies everywhere.  Each time I saw one I felt that somehow mother’s spirit was nearby, and that she was trying to let us know she was still watching over  us.  This belief helped me through the funeral and everything else that followed.

Since my mom’s death, I’ve talked to several people about the significance of butterflies during the grieving process, and I’ve heard several stories that are similar to mine.  In my butterfly research, I’ve discovered that butterflies have long been a symbol of the renewal of life.  Butterflies give us a sense of hope and the possibility of our own transformation and evolution.

My mother’s monument has a butterfly in the corner, and every time I visit her grave I see at least one, and usually several, live butterflies flying around.

Although I didn’t get to fulfill my volunteer duties at the butterfly exhibit the first  year my husband was able to take some great photos.  I decided that our photographs were so good that I would start my own website so we could share our butterfly photos as well as the other items that I created using the photos.  I felt that if I could get the mybutterflies.com domain name it would be sign that I should go forward with this idea, and as you can see, I did.

I hope you enjoy looking at the butterfly pictures on this website and that you’ll find at least one thing interesting enough to buy.  Thanks for visiting, and check back often to see our latest photos and creations.  If you want to share your butterfly story, e-mail me. Liz McGee