Undoing Moments

Back home.  Upon awakening, planning to commit this entire day to working on my book.  Optimistically anticipating finishing the edits of the final entries, then sending them off for proofing.  Moments after rereading my original post of the one year anniversary, the phone rings.  It is a collection agency asking for Michael Gibson.  I explain that my son died over a year and a half ago.  The woman expresses her condolences and requests the obituary or death certificate for confirmation.  I agree, hang up, and take care of it immediately.  Tears falling.  Will these undoing moments ever end?  Minutes later, it occurs to me that this is an agency I have never heard of, and has likely been given an old file from one of the initial organizations I dealt with last year.  I want to minimize these out-of-the-blue, heart wrenching incidents.  I call the agency back, and get a different representative.  I tell her that a few weeks after Michael died,  I received invoices addressed to him, regarding money he owed.  At the time, I called the companies involved, then sent copies of his death certificate.  I ask this agent where this particular file has come from.  I want to understand why they do not have the information that he is dead.  In a very aggressive tone, she informs me that she is not able to discuss those details.  She goes on to say that it is all protected by third-party federal regulations, blah, blah, blah.  These last three words, not hers, but rather, what I hear.  I try rephrasing my question.  In an unkind manner, she interrupts to inform me she cannot help.  Then, hangs up on me.  Hopefully, she never has to deal with the death of her child.  Perhaps she will find an alternate path to gaining some compassion. 

Grave Secret

While awaiting a recent flight home.  Standing in line at airport security, after snaking back and forth between the numerous banded posts.  Noticing three men wind their way towards me.  Two in their late eighties, along with one of middle age.  Overhearing snippets of their conversation, as they pass by.  Learning two are father and son. Gleaning all three to be churchgoers.  The younger one mentioning how wonderful it is that he lives so close to his place of worship.  They then moving away from me, along the length of the line, only to return again. This time, in a grave voice, one of the older men revealing, "I kept it a secret until he died."  Arriving at the front of the line, I get waved up to place personal items on the conveyor belt.  Leaving the men behind, my mind does somersaults.  Who was it?  What was their relationship?  Was it church related?  Why did he feel it needed to be kept secret?  Were there unintended consequences?  What price did he pay?  I will never know the circumstances of this particular situation. My heart hoping he is at peace with it now.

Thanksgiving Trailer Style

Spending the final week of our trailer trip here in sunny Palm Springs.  My husband choosing this deluxe RV resort for us to stay in, before heading home.  Manicured gardens, hundreds of palm trees, numerous birds, and gracious staff.  Enjoying a run this morning, followed by a long swim in one of the two outdoor pools after lunch.  Looking forward to a complimentary turkey meal with all the trimmings, at the clubhouse later on.  Celebrating American Thanksgiving.  How easy it is to be thankful in such opulence.  And yet, while relaxing in a lounge chair on the patio, overhearing complaints from some fellow guests nonetheless.  Most of them travelling in large, luxurious units.  Usually pulling an additional vehicle.  One commenting on how dreadful the next four years will be, referring to the political situation.  Another holding court in the hot tub, with his hard luck story of a having a flat tire.  A third seriously annoyed by the flies.   Leaving me tempted to work in that classic line of,  "My diamond slippers are getting too small,"  during dinner conversation, between the stuffing and the pie.              

Spirit Connection

So heartening to hear more and more people relaying personal experiences regarding connection with spirit.  Including some from folks who have had very little, if any, previous contact of this sort.  From individuals close to me, as well as from some I have never met.  Without prompting, feeling motivated to tell their stories to friends and acquaintances.  This week, learning of three episodes in just one day.
The first, during a phone conversation with a friend.  She explaining the scenario that just occurred while fretting over a hefty strata levy on her apartment.  One slated to coincide with her imminent retirement. While contemplating the implications of this, she clearly hearing Michael's voice announcing, "It's just money."  Something he would definitely say.
The second, while stopping by a local business.  A friend on staff there telling me about witnessing an incident in New York.  She and her running buddy travelling there for the recent marathon, only to have it cancelled due to the severe storm.  The two making the best of it, by going for a run through Central Park.   En route, my friend noticing her companion's tears.  The running partner explaining that during this jog, she had just engaged in a very real conversation with her mother, a woman who passed many years ago.  During the dialogue, mom was seated in her favourite chair, with her daughter kneeling before her, sharing photos of New York.  This companion previously closed to the possibilities of such communication.  Now, more open to receiving this message likely due to the natural disaster, and devastating circumstances in her environment.  Her mother's spirit taking the opportunity of a slight crack in the armour.  
The third, via the internet, from a young woman writing about her powerful interactions with Mike and Kelly's spirits.  Two people she had not met before their passing.  Seeing and hearing them clearly now. Wanting to spread the messages of everlasting love and connection to all.
I am joyfully noting these encouraging signs of stronger and more frequent spirit contact.  Firmly believing they add to our collective sense of peace and contentment. 

Supportive Energy

Our time in Sedona was coming to an end, and we had yet to explore the most photographed landscape in the region, that of Red Rock Crossing, adjacent to Cathedral Rock.  So, after parking the car, we followed the path along Oak Creek to Buddha Beach, where we came across hundreds of rock cairns -  on the forest floor, atop tree branches, on fallen logs, and out in the creek bed.  Red, beige, grey, and orange stones, in varying shapes and sizes, artfully balancing upon each other.  Wandering among them, I was inspired to try my hand at it.  Initially, I considered the idea of creating representations of my three children.  However, after picking up a round, grey rock, I realized I was forming a mother figure instead.  Complete with a heart-shaped stone balancing in her centre.  Then, leaving this gallery of love behind, we made our way over to the huge, red rock slab.  For my husband and I, this was the final one of the four Sedona vortexes left to experience.  Sites that are said to contain concentrated spiritual energy, each with specific energetic attributes described as masculine, feminine, or a combination of both.  After enjoying a simple picnic there, we decided it was time to open the sealed envelope we had been carrying around in our knapsack.  It had been given to me by one of Michael's friends the last time I was home.  She explained that she had hosted a New Year's Eve party in 1999 for a group of her thirteen-year-old friends.  They had each completed, then sealed, their own time capsule questionnaire, then left them at her home, to be opened together during their 2004 graduation year.  However, this project lay dormant until the envelopes were discovered this fall.  Now, in this peaceful space, my husband and I tugged open the flap of the one our son had signed, Mike G's.  Both of us silently reading the contents, beginning with the instruction at the top: Answer truthfully....no one will read this but you.  Going on to discover the words he chose to describe his life in that moment, as well as predictions of what may be.  Another priceless connection, thanks to the thoughtfulness of this friend.  After returning to our vehicle, I was curious about the nature of this particular vortex.  I was not surprised to read it was the only one with solely feminine energy.  Of course it was.

Día de los Muertos

Exactly a year after writing about Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) festivities, I happened upon these celebrations in a Mexican area of Sedona, Arizona this week.  With its powerful underlying spiritual energies, this town is an excellent place to experience such a heartfelt event.  Trees adorned with colourful ribbons and flags.  Hundreds of decorative skulls and skeletons prominently displayed.  A number of individuals dressed in ornate costumes wandering amidst musicians and dancers.  Everyone given the opportunity to honour deceased loved ones by placing candles and photos on altars strewn with marigolds and rose petals.  The public invited to paint on a collaborative community mural.  Together creating a vibrant atmosphere filled with love and uplifting energy for all to absorb.  Not without a few tears of course, but rewarded with hearts revived.

Champagne Birthday

My official 'Champagne Birthday' occurred when I turned two, well before I knew of such a thing.  Not wanting to miss an opportunity to imbibe this exquisite beverage, I decided to celebrate another version of this event, based on the year, rather than the day.  Even going so far as to pack two flutes in the trailer before we left.  Born in '56, I am raising a glass of bubbly to turning 56 today.  A virtual toast to my family and friends - thank you for being the best gifts in my life!