Bride Gets Wedding Gift From a Stranger, Then She Realizes It's a Sign from Her Late Brother (Exclusive)
Shelby Garcia believes an unexpected token from a mysterious stranger could have been a sign from her late brother, Colby
Alex and Shelby Garcia got married on Sept. 22 in New York's Central Park
An unknown Italian woman approached Shelby and gave her a bracelet with a blue fish charm on it, but it wasn't until later that she realized its significance
The blue fish charm closely resembled a blue ceramic fish Shelby's late brother, Colby, made for her. To the bride, this indicates that Colby was at the wedding in spirit
A bride believes a small token from a stranger symbolizes her late brother's presence at her wedding.
Before Shelby Garcia (née Hall), 27, married Alex Garcia, 28, in Central Park on Sept. 22, she received a "something blue" gift from a stranger who would change her perspective of her wedding day forever.
The couple of nearly six years were taking photos underneath Bethesda Terrace ahead of their ceremony when an Italian woman approached Shelby from behind. Although the bride is usually hesitant to talk to strangers in New York, she somehow felt "comfortable" to speak to this unknown woman.
"It felt like I knew her, I'm not sure how she felt, but when I looked into her eyes it felt very familiar," Shelby tells PEOPLE. "I felt comfortable in a way I don't normally with strangers. She didn't feel like a stranger."
She continued: "She said in Italy it is good luck to wear something blue on your wedding day and that she wanted me to have this and she put the bracelet on my wrist. I thanked her multiple times and we had this moment where we looked into each other's eyes and it felt comforting."
The woman gave Shelby a bracelet with a small blue fish charm on it. But it wasn't until later that she realized its significance.
After the ceremony, Shelby and her photographer, Mariana Soto, were on their way to take group photos when they began discussing what happens after death. Shelby's brother, Colby, died in a car accident about three years ago when he was just 17 years old. Although the two were six years apart, they were "incredibly close."
"She asked me if I believe in heaven," Shelby recalls. "I don't actually know what I believe in, so I was honest, and she said in that moment with the woman it felt like something that was meant to happen. I realized then that I had a blue ceramic fish my brother made me when he was younger hanging in my room at my parents house."
Shelby realized that the blue fish charm closely resembled a blue ceramic fish her brother had made for her. Because her brother couldn't physically be at her wedding, she thought it was a sign that he was there in spirit.
The stranger was also intent on giving the bracelet to Shelby specifically even though there was another bride in the same area.
"It just feels so special that I get to keep this now," she said of the bracelet on TikTok. "I've been wearing it and looking at it, and just know that he was there on Sunday with me."
But it wasn't the first time Shelby had felt Colby's presence.
Since her brother's death, Shelby says there have been other small, unexplainable experiences that she thinks were signs from him — such as her shower curtain being knocked inward when the door was closed and nobody else was home. Colby used to come into the bathroom while she was showering and try to hit her through the curtain before running out. He also liked to throw cold sink water over the shower, and since he died, Shelby has also felt cold water fall on her when there's no leak.
Courtesy of Shelby Garcia
Shelby Hall's brother, Colby"It feels like he's around more now," she notes, adding that she saw Colby's name etched into the sidewalk in Greenpoint just last week.
"Colby and I were friends from the day we met … As we grew up, he was always attached to me, and I was always inviting and insisting he did things with me and my friends, I always made sure he and I had time together," Shelby says. There were two siblings in between her and Colby who died at or close to birth to Ellis-van Creveld syndrome.
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She says Colby was her "shadow," adding, "If he wanted time with me, he got it."
The newlywed woman has not been in contact with the mysterious stranger since she walked away after giving her the bracelet.
"I've not seen her again, I don't know how we'd even find each other," Shelby shares.
