A Box of Butterflies

A Box of Butterflies by Roma Downey      Audio Book: 5 hours, 7 mins.      Hardback Book:  256 pages                    

Roma Downey, known best for her role as Monica on “Touched by an Angel” with Della Reese, tells about her life and how she came up in Derry, Ireland.   Her mother loved the flowers called pansies because she said they looked like butterflies.    Her mother passed away when she was 10 years old and while she and her father were at her mother’s grave covered in pansies a real butterfly flew up to Roma.     Her Dad told her that was her mother’s spirit letting her know she was still close to her just behind the veil.    Throughout her life whenever she has been sad, down on her luck or needing her mother somehow a butterfly would appear either on a picture, a piece of jewelry, an ad on the side of a bus or truck or she would see an actual butterfly and know that was her mother sending her a message that she would be o.k.    Once while up on a mountainside her husband gave her a box and told her to open it very gently and carefully.    When she did out flew 50 butterflies.    Everyone in her family and all of her friends know about her love of butterflies and their association with her mother’s spirit.   Her Dad used to tell her when she was away from home and lonely to look up at the moon he had left a message for her there and when she gazed at the moon she could feel the heartfelt message from her father – so the moon has always been representative of his spirit to her.   She has been through two marriages and has a daughter by her first marriage (he left when their daughter was a month old and the divorce was finalized when the baby was two months old) she was living in New York City then moved to Los Angeles.   She had graduated from university with a major in theater and got top honors.   She performed in London for a time, then after her father’s death, after graduation she took the advice of her fellow students and moved to New York.   She worked part-time and auditioned the other part of the day.   Finally lucking into a role that was scene by actor Rex Harrison who loved her performance and asked her to audition for the show he was doing.   She did, got the role and travelled with the troupe for 9 months.     She was spotted in the show and asked to audition for the role of   Jackie Kennedy in an upcoming miniseries.  She got it.   That role gave her the momentum to move to Los Angeles and try her luck there – kismet- she landed the role of Monica that lasted 10 years.   She also became like family with her co-star, Della Reese.   Della lost her daughter during shooting the series and flew from St. Lake City, UT where they filmed the show back to Los Angeles.   Roma went with her.   Della told her, “I am not going to feel like talking.”    Roma told her, “you don’t have to.   I will sit beside you quietly holding your hand until we get there.   I want to be with you, I don’t want you to have to fly back alone.”  And so they flew back together.   When they arrived at the airport, Della’s husband was waiting for her and Roma said goodbye.    She prayed for Della and her family then began to wonder what she should do, she didn’t bring a suitcase, but, one of the assistants on set had brought her purse to her as they were getting in the car taking them to the airport.   She decided to stay at a hotel then fly back in the morning but one of the producers on the show called her name.    She had been in L.A. and had come to the airport to meet Della and see if there was anything she could do to help.     Turns out Della had gone already, but, she asked Roma to stay at her house.   God provided a solution for Roma.    She is a praying religious woman and Della later told her to ask God for a good man to come into her life.   It hadn’t occurred to her to do so, she was happy working on the series, visiting sick children in the local hospital on weekends and spending time with her daughter so she wasn’t looking for anyone.    But Della had planted the seed.    One day while at a hair salon getting a pedicure, Roma and a man getting a haircut hit it off, got in touch with one another via one of the ladies that worked at the salon and the rest is history.   He was also from the U.K., divorced with 2 sons and he was a Godly man.  Perfect, another miracle.   They fell madly in love and now years later, their 3 kids are now grown and out on their own and Roma and her second husband are producing films and travelling a lot.    Cherishing every minute when the kids get to come back home for visits.  Throughout her book she recites poetry and Bible verses.   She relates many biblical stories and sites both humorous and real stories of God’s work in action.    She and her husband pitched a series on the Bible to the History Channel and were given the green light to film them in Morroco.   They were so well received that the History Channel also greenlighted an additional series on the events in the Bible after Jesus’ death titled A.D.    They did a remake of Ben-Hur for CBS in Malta.    Such a blessed life.  No one can believe she and her husband work so well together as co-producers on all their projects.   God really is smiling on her.   Good book.  I enjoyed it.