Welcome to Writers You Should Know! We recognize and celebrate the work of exemplary Substack Creators.
From Mariangela
Between Worlds
Here’s my favorite note:
“I do not write about sensitivity. I leave that to the specialists. I write from it and for it — from the lived experience of carrying it without language for it, for everyone still doing the same.”
https://betweenworldsbymari.substack.com/p/why-i-write
And a writer I’d like to recommend: Alex Tetarevsky.
Her comment to my comment :) stopped me: “Maybe the real skill is learning to stay in that in between long enough for something new to actually emerge, rather than going back to what was simply because it’s familiar.”
I don’t know her work well yet, but that comment made me want to.
[full text of Alex's comment]:
You’re right: closing the door is a decision. Trusting the silence is a kind of surrender. But keeping it closed… that’s identity work.
Because it’s not really about the door anymore. It’s about tolerating the space it creates, without rushing to fill it, without negotiating with it, without reopening it just to relieve the discomfort. Maybe the real skill is learning to stay in that in between long enough for something new to actually emerge, rather than going back to what was simply because it’s familiar.
And that takes a different kind of courage.
Alex's Substack: https://substack.com/@itsalext
A Hummingbird Story of Faith.
Mar 09, 2026
The Last Day
My beloved mother passed away in the summer of 2019. She had battled Stage 4 bone cancer that had metastasized from breast cancer. Since my home was a top-floor condo without an elevator, she was not able to live with me. I really struggled with this, being the only girl with three brothers. My mom and I were very close, but in the last years of her life, she had to live with one of my brothers, who had a first-floor bedroom. The other brother did not, and my youngest brother lived in California.
On the last day of her life, I sat by her bedside, holding her hand. Just outside of her bedroom window was a hummingbird. What was interesting about this hummingbird was that my sister-in-law had just moved the feeder from the back yard to mom’s front window. My sister-in-law had never seen a hummingbird at her feeder, so she wanted to try a different location.
As mom quietly slept, a hummingbird came to the feeder and returned repeatedly all day. My brother, who lived there, and my older brother, who came to stay at her bedside, also saw it. In the midst of our grief, we were all excited and delighted to see such a beautiful bird.
Up until this day, I had never noticed or thought much about hummingbirds. They became significant as my mom passed that day, and this tiny bird was a sweet source of joy for our family.
The next day, after making the funeral arrangements, I called my youngest brother across the country to update him on the plans. As he and I were talking, and I told him about the hummingbird, one appeared to him right at the bush where he was sitting. Once again, we were delighted by the timing of this little hummingbird in the midst of our sorrow and grief.
A Meaningful Coincidence
Fast forward to the following month, we had Mom’s celebration of life service. Unbeknownst to any of us, it just so happened to be held on what we later discovered was National Hummingbird Day, which is always the first Saturday of September.
Again, I felt delight in what many people may call a coincidence, but I chose to see it in faith as a God-incident!
When I heard this news, I became fascinated by hummingbirds. I researched them and found many facts that reminded me of my beautiful mother.
I wish you knew her. Everyone who knew her loved her.
Like the hummingbird, known for its beauty, my mother was a gorgeous woman. But even her stunning looks were no match for her beautiful, sweet spirit. Although she had a hard, tough life, she took such delight in little things just like the hummingbirds.
Looking for a Home Together
Before mom passed away, we had spent her last years looking at homes for potential multi-generational living. Since I was the only girl, I was really struggling with not being able to have her live with me due to the stairs to my condo.
Even though we never found a home that would work for us, we enjoyed our house-hunting and always our time together for any reason.
One time, in 2018, my husband and I were heading to my brother’s house to visit my mom. He just randomly mentioned, “Why don’t you show me where you grew up?”
So, we drove past the home my parents had built in 1976. I had lived there with my three brothers, and my mom had sold the property in 1997 after my dad had passed away.
On that particular day, the current homeowners were in the yard, so we stopped. We introduced ourselves, and I was able to share the history of our home with them. I told the stories of the garage my father built, the tire swing he put up that still hung from the tree, and the beautiful swimming pool my mom had put in that all my siblings and my children had swum in.
This kind couple let us into the home, and I was able to see my old bedroom, the basement my father finished, and all three of my brothers’ bedrooms. I was able to see the tile we laid by hand in front of the fireplace and share some history with this family.
It was a moment in my life that was so meaningful and precious, and the couple graciously allowed me to take photos to show my mother.
On an impulse, I handed my business card to the homeowners and told them that if they ever thought of selling, please let me know. Little did I know that my future was rooted in that impulsive moment.
A Season of Loss
We visited Mom that day and shared all the photos of her old home, rekindling memories there. Unknown to us, she would be in hospice the following year and pass the summer of 2019.
My husband’s cancer had come back at the same time my mother’s cancer metastasized. They were both battling stage 4 cancer, and eventually, their treatments had stopped working.
I’ll never forget when my mother chose hospice that summer of 2019 and her prophetically telling me, “Berta, God will not take your husband too”.
True to her words, he chose a brand-new cancer treatment, CAR-T cell, that had only been approved in this country for two years. My mom passed away on August 4, and my husband went into his already scheduled ICU hospital stay on August 5.
Although I grieved the great loss of my wonderful mother that August 2019 — my best friend—my life was full of work, caring for my spouse who was battling stage 4 cancer, and being a designated driver for my legally blind daughter.
A few months later, we went into the pandemic in 2020 and navigated this universal trauma together.
My husband was initially cancer-free after his CAR-T cell treatment, actually notified the day before my mother’s celebration of life that September. However, his cancer returned during the pandemic. He continued his treatments and thankfully remains cancer-free to this day.
The Phone Call
Two years after my mom passed away, in the same month that she died, the current homeowners of my childhood home contacted me.
They were ready to sell and offered the home back to my family.
I quickly gathered my husband, my legally blind daughter, and her husband, their three children, and we all rode over to the home.
The homeowners had told us to bring our bathing suits, and my husband and two of the three little grandchildren did not hesitate to jump into the pool—the same pool my children had grown up in at their grandparents’ house!
As we toured the home and the two-plus acres of property, sharing my childhood memories and my daughter’s grandparents’ house and pool memories, my young granddaughter saw a hummingbird.
That sighting and its meaning touched us. We immediately thought of my beautiful mom and all the memories of this once being her loving home.
A Remarkable Offer
After the visit, we held a family meeting and decided we were open to multi-generational living (my husband, my daughter, her husband, and their three kids).
We quickly put our condos on the market.
These wonderful homeowners had offered to sell us my childhood home at $100,000.00 less than the market value. Who does that?
They said they knew many people who wanted the home, but they knew it belonged to my family and me.
Once again, prophetic.
We were quickly moving in a new direction. I admit I had ambivalence about making such a major life change after living in my condo for 16 years. I also had some doubts about the ability to successfully merge multiple generations.
However, as my husband and I met with the homeowners to sign the initial contract, we met at their dining room table. While signing, I happened to look up, and there was a hummingbird ornament hanging from the ceiling fan above us.
I couldn’t believe it and asked, “Is that a hummingbird”?
The woman smiled and said, “Yes, my mother collected them.”
I could not believe it, and my arms were covered in chill bumps.
Once again, to many a mere coincidence, but for me, in faith, another God-incident.
Coming Home Again
So, we were contacted by the homeowners in August of 2021, and we all moved in on December 1, 2021, as the new homeowners of my old childhood home!
My husband had owned a moving company that his grandfather established in 1929. He had sold his business in 2009 and his last moving truck—the one he had driven.
Well, the movers showed up on moving day with my husband’s old truck.
Again, we were touched by the timing of this significant life event and all the details that were so meaningful and fell into place.
Hummingbird Farm
Eagerly, I took my grandchildren over the Bay Bridge to “Billy’s Back Yard” equipment to buy a large swing set for them for Christmas.
How ironic that my father, grandfather, and brothers’ names were all Billy.
However, one of the sweetest moments was walking into Billy’s Back Yard store. My young grandson immediately saw a large, beautiful hummingbird picture hanging on the wall.
He quickly said, “Aww, great grandma would love this!” I promptly smiled, tears in my eyes, and said, “Sold.”
Home Sweet Home
So here it is, 4.5 years later, and we live in the very home my parents built.
We swim in the very pool my mom put in, and all my kids and now my grandchildren enjoy.
My grandchildren sleep in my old bedroom and play for hours in the huge backyard.
We have 11 chickens, 3 rescue dogs, 3 rescue bunnies, and an abundance of family and friends sharing all of this with us.
We have at least 10 hummingbird feeders, and hummingbirds visit here all the time. We tend to notice more when family members, especially my brothers and family, who were so special to my mom, come to visit.
We have named this homestead Hummingbird Farm in her honor.
We know she is watching over us, but more than anything, we believe that the LORD of this Universe orchestrated one of the greatest gifts to us.
A hummingbird to remember mom.
And a home sweet home that was no coincidence, but instead a divine unfolding— a true God-incident.
We are so grateful.