- Dyana Klein first met Christine Hallas eight years ago through an animal welfare nonprofit that Klein founded
- However, last year, their friendship faced a challenge when Hallas, who had always lived a healthy lifestyle, suddenly began experiencing pain. Shortly after, she was diagnosed with cancer, and doctors gave her three months to live
- About a week before Hallas died at age 79, Klein asked if she would come back to visit her after she passed. Then, two weeks later, she noticed a tapping on her window
Dyana Klein first met Christine Hallas eight years ago through an animal welfare nonprofit that Klein founded. From there, Hallas became a donor, then a volunteer and eventually a close friend.
“She was one of those people everyone loved, and I loved just sitting with her,” Klein, 54, tells PEOPLE exclusively. “She used to tell me stories about how she grew up, even writing a book about it for her family to read.”
However, last year, their friendship faced a challenge when Hallas, who had always lived a healthy lifestyle, suddenly began experiencing pain. Shortly after, she was diagnosed with cancer, and doctors gave her three months to live. She defied the odds, living for six more months.
Dyana Klein with her husband and friend Christine Hallas.
Cathy DeAngelis
When Klein, a crushed glass photo artist, would visit her friend, she tried to keep her emotions in check. She would bring samples from her business, hoping the tears would stay away. Then, about a week before Hallas died at age 79, the pair had one of their most meaningful conversations.
“She and I had an ‘Ask me anything and tell me anything’ relationship,” the Carmel Valley, Calif., local says. “I was asking her questions about what dying felt like physically, about her cancer, all the things some people think you should never ask. And I said, ‘Okay, I have a request. I’ve been thinking about how I want you to come visit me. I don’t want butterflies or ladybugs because they are always around. I need something where I absolutely know it’s you.’ “
“After I told her, she was quiet for a few moments,” Klein adds. “Then she smiled and said, ‘Okay, I’ll see what I can do,’ and I said, ‘If anyone can do it, you can.’ “
Dyana Klein with Christine Hallas and some of their other friends.
Max’s Helping Paws Foundation
Shortly after their conversation, on May 5, 2024, Hallas died.
About two weeks later, while driving, Klein decided to have a full conversation with her late friend, where she gently reminded her about the request. At the time, Klein was driving on the highway and recalls saying, “Well, don’t do it now. I don’t want you to hit my windshield.” And that was that.
The very next day, Klein’s husband, who knew what she had asked Hallas to do, came to get her after hearing tapping from a bird on the window at home. The tapping began every single day, throughout the day, for a month. They placed chairs nearby because they were afraid the bird would hurt itself from working so hard to make the taps. They even set up a camera to monitor the bird’s visits, calling it the “CHRIS-CAM.”
“As summer came and I got busy, she kept coming, even bringing friends a couple of times. You could see them waiting on the ladder behind her,” Klein says. “She’d never take food. She would go from the back of the house to the front, above the door, like peekaboo. I sobbed because I knew. I mean, you never know, but to know her and to see this … I knew. I knew by the way she was fluttering, bouncing, coming back, even going to my husband’s office window a few times to get his attention.”
“It was exactly, exactly what I asked her to do, except times 100,” she adds. “I could literally hear her in my head saying, ‘See? There … you wanted a bird, I gave you a bird … now you know.’ “
While all this was happening, Klein decided to post a few of the videos she’d captured of the bird on TikTok. She never thought much of the clips, but then posted another recently and noticed it had gone viral, garnering more than 520,000 views and 1,200 comments.
Not much later, she posted another TikTok which went viral too, amassing more than 760,000 views.
“Chris loved to watch my TikTok videos and started using it herself,” Klein says. “I knew in my heart it was her and wanted to share it with others who might have a similar story or just needed to believe.”
“In the comments, many people said they don’t share their story for fear people will think they are nuts,” she says. “There were a few that really stood out. Like ones where the bird or butterfly landed on then during a particularly difficult or special moment. One said a butterfly landed on her lips during a service. Or one asked her mom to send glitter, which I had never heard of but love.”
Looking forward, Klein hopes the bird continues to visit her. Just last week she was in her workshop and her husband sent her a text of a video of the bird at the door. Right away, Klein rushed upstairs.
“Of course I cried and chatted with her as I do,” she says. “Sometimes, don’t laugh, I even flap my arms. I swear to you, she sat there and stopped jumping and stared at me like I was a nut job. Same Western Bluebird, doing the exact same things. Jumping up and down, swooping from door to door and sometimes just flying in place, even hanging on the screen and the door handle at times.”
“I hope people recognize that while there is so much we don’t know and don’t understand, it is a proven fact that energy never dies,” she adds. “It transfers. This, to me, is actually not that crazy when you think about that. It needs to go somewhere.”
