The first time I saw a bluebird was on one of the saddest days of my life.
I was returning home with my children in the family car after burying my husband, and a pair of bluebirds were perched on the fence of my driveway as if waiting for me.
That moment and those two little bluebirds brought joy in the midst of our sea of sadness.
Bluebirds have always been mythical creatures to me. I discovered their existence as a child watching 'The Wizard of Oz" on a television we used needle-nose pliers to change channels. A young Judy Garland, playing Dorothy, sang of bluebirds flying somewhere over the rainbow, symbols of hope just out of reach.
Birds, books, and butterflies have long felt like messengers in my life, appearing in moments when I needed lifting most.
After my husband’s passing, a scissortail became my quiet companion during daily sunset visits to his grave. I read constantly in those days, moving from one book to the next, searching for even the smallest measure of relief from the weight of grief. And though I had never seen a bluebird at our home in the three years we had lived there, after that day in June, they began to appear – again and again – landing nearby when I least expected it, as if they had quietly taken up residence in our backyard.
Many Native American traditions view the bluebird as a symbol of growth, transformation, and renewal – the harbinger of spring. In Christianity, they are sometimes seen as angels in disguise. Others believe bluebirds appear when life has reached a low point, offering quiet reassurance.
It was such a joy meeting Robert Black – a widower with children suffering the sudden loss of their mother. After months of friendship and providing support for each other, we fell in love, blended our families, our multitude of pets, our respective households, and affectionately and gratefully titled this time in our lives our "Second Chapter."
In 2019, bluebirds once again ushered in a pivotal moment as we left secure jobs and took the leap to become business owners in historic Downtown Edmond, Okla.
Though I often saw bluebirds in our yard, I could never find their nest – till just out of reach, still a little mythical. Then one exhausting day while gardening, I rested beneath a large oak tree and looked up into its canopy, gathering the strength to finish. In that quiet pause, I saw a bluebird disappear into a small hole in the trunk.
Their home!
Moments later, Robert leaned over to check on me – and then asked, almost casually, “How do you feel about buying Evoke?”
We have been part of the Downtown Edmond community ever since, deeply in love with our hometown. Purchasing Evoke just six months before a global pandemic was not what we had planned, and there were moments we feared losing everything. But the support of our community, people who showed up for us, many of whom we had never even met, lifted us through those hardest days.
We added to our business presence in Edmond when we opened Twisted Tree Baking Company, The Lofts at Evoke, Bluebird Books, and now La Loba Cantina + Grill. The growth and energy in our community still leave us in awe.
Independent bookstores are vital to a community – especially in a historic district like ours. So, when the one was closing in downtown, Robert and I wrote a business plan and stepped into a space we'd never been, but knew was a needed presence. Bluebird Books is a women-owned space filled with stories for every kind of reader, comfortable seating, family story time, book clubs, art, gifts, and a place to set down our phones and the weight of everyday life, even if only for a while.
And sometimes I think about the younger version of myself, the one searching for something as elusive as a bluebird, and what I would tell her now:
You can fly somewhere over the rainbow, with a bluebird and a book.
- Lori Dickinson Black
I was returning home with my children in the family car after burying my husband, and a pair of bluebirds were perched on the fence of my driveway as if waiting for me.
That moment and those two little bluebirds brought joy in the midst of our sea of sadness.
Bluebirds have always been mythical creatures to me. I discovered their existence as a child watching 'The Wizard of Oz" on a television we used needle-nose pliers to change channels. A young Judy Garland, playing Dorothy, sang of bluebirds flying somewhere over the rainbow, symbols of hope just out of reach.
Birds, books, and butterflies have long felt like messengers in my life, appearing in moments when I needed lifting most.
After my husband’s passing, a scissortail became my quiet companion during daily sunset visits to his grave. I read constantly in those days, moving from one book to the next, searching for even the smallest measure of relief from the weight of grief. And though I had never seen a bluebird at our home in the three years we had lived there, after that day in June, they began to appear – again and again – landing nearby when I least expected it, as if they had quietly taken up residence in our backyard.
Many Native American traditions view the bluebird as a symbol of growth, transformation, and renewal – the harbinger of spring. In Christianity, they are sometimes seen as angels in disguise. Others believe bluebirds appear when life has reached a low point, offering quiet reassurance.
It was such a joy meeting Robert Black – a widower with children suffering the sudden loss of their mother. After months of friendship and providing support for each other, we fell in love, blended our families, our multitude of pets, our respective households, and affectionately and gratefully titled this time in our lives our "Second Chapter."
In 2019, bluebirds once again ushered in a pivotal moment as we left secure jobs and took the leap to become business owners in historic Downtown Edmond, Okla.
Though I often saw bluebirds in our yard, I could never find their nest – till just out of reach, still a little mythical. Then one exhausting day while gardening, I rested beneath a large oak tree and looked up into its canopy, gathering the strength to finish. In that quiet pause, I saw a bluebird disappear into a small hole in the trunk.
Their home!
Moments later, Robert leaned over to check on me – and then asked, almost casually, “How do you feel about buying Evoke?”
We have been part of the Downtown Edmond community ever since, deeply in love with our hometown. Purchasing Evoke just six months before a global pandemic was not what we had planned, and there were moments we feared losing everything. But the support of our community, people who showed up for us, many of whom we had never even met, lifted us through those hardest days.
We added to our business presence in Edmond when we opened Twisted Tree Baking Company, The Lofts at Evoke, Bluebird Books, and now La Loba Cantina + Grill. The growth and energy in our community still leave us in awe.
Independent bookstores are vital to a community – especially in a historic district like ours. So, when the one was closing in downtown, Robert and I wrote a business plan and stepped into a space we'd never been, but knew was a needed presence. Bluebird Books is a women-owned space filled with stories for every kind of reader, comfortable seating, family story time, book clubs, art, gifts, and a place to set down our phones and the weight of everyday life, even if only for a while.
And sometimes I think about the younger version of myself, the one searching for something as elusive as a bluebird, and what I would tell her now:
You can fly somewhere over the rainbow, with a bluebird and a book.
- Lori Dickinson Black
