Back in 2001 my dad was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. He was given a year to live. 2 months after his diagnoses, we decided to go fishing on the Muskegon River using my 18' river boat. As we were driving toward the boat launch, my dad looked out the passenger window and said "it sure would be cool to see an eagle today" (we saw eagles on the river once in a while in the past). I nodded my head in agreement as we continued down the road.
After launching the boat, we headed upstream for a few hours of fishing. During our 2 mile boat ride upstream we saw four different eagles with the last one perched on a rock in the middle of the river. As we rounded the bend, the eagle took to the air quite close to the boat. After the eagle had flown away, my dad and I locked eyes for a moment and said nothing. Just then, something in the water caught my eye. Looking closer I realized one of the biggest feathers on that eagle had fallen off during flight and was now floating in the river past our boat. I pointed the feather out to dad. We both stood there in amazement as we watched the feather slowly fade from sight.
Dad passed away 9 months later.