Earning Your Wings

I had a humorous moment with a father who passed away and was trying to communicate with his son.  He wasn't a big believer in people like me and what I do for a living, so it was difficult at first for him to get information through to me.  But soon I was picking up his energy, and I really liked his personality -- funny, intelligent and yet humble.  He said he was shocked at the beauty of the other side.  He always believed in a heaven, but never really spent a lot of time thinking about it.  Then he showed me wing pins.  Remember when you were a kid and flew for the first time, the stewardess would give you a pin with wings and say, "Now you've earned your wings?"  That's what he showed me.  At first, I thought it was a special memory he shared with his son, but that wasn't it.  Then I thought maybe he was trying to show me that birds, the eagle in particular, is a special sign he shows his son.  But no, that wasn't it.  He just kept showing me that pin, and then I got it!  It wasn't a symbol but a literal picture he was showing me.  He was telling his son that he'd made it to heaven, had "earned his wings!"