The Dog Star and its Pup

As I reflect upon Michael's life and replay memories of him on this 13th anniversary of his death, I'm feeling especially close to his soul due to some intriguing information I learned just this week. 

Six years ago, I had discovered his soul name when he appeared during my profound Life between Lives experience. During hypnosis, the name Sirius was communicated to me by his soul being. I knew that to be the name of a star, but when I saw it spelled out in white letters in my mind's eye, it read Cirius. I immediately started laughing because I recognized his great sense of humour coming through. Of course it would be spelled with a C instead of an S. He was playing with me, and with the homonym 'serious', which was pretty well the opposite of who he was, most of the time. Funny guy!

A few days ago, after a short meditation, I became curious about the star. As it turns out, Sirius is a binary star located in the constellation Canis Major.  Sirius A, also known as the Dog Star, is the brightest in the night sky! Sirius B, affectionately called the Pup Star, is its white dwarf companion. What a scene that conjures up in my mind. Michael and Diesel, best buds here on earth, now possibly the Dog and its Pup hanging out in the universe together, their star energy shining brightly! 

All Six Senses

     Seated with both my grandchildren for an after-school snack at my kitchen table, they filled me in on their day. It was Friday afternoon and their parents were at the vet with Gully, the family's elderly chocolate lab. At 14.5 years of age (or using a common rule of thumb, 101 in human years, as my grandson is always quick to point out), his health appeared to be failing and the family was a little anxious about what the results of that appointment would bring.

     While we three chatted about this and that, their pet was clearly on my grandson's mind. Midway through his sister's detailed description of her library book's plot, he turned to me and said that Gully only had four senses left. When I asked him to elaborate, he told me that their dog could not see or hear, and left it at that. I was a little confused by his math, thinking five minus two equals three. This six year old enjoys solving number problems in his mind, so a simple equation like this would be very easy for him. However, I didn't question him any further since his sister had already launched into another anecdote she wanted to share.

     It wasn't until the following morning, while running in the canyon, that it hit me.  A few weeks earlier, the three of us had been talking about the sixth sense. A conversation about how valuable it is but often overlooked in our culture when we consider all our senses. It seems he had factored this in when referring to his dog's remaining faculties - Gully may be deaf and blind, but according to my grandson, along with taste, touch, and smell, his sixth sense seems to be going strong. And as the vet later reported, he is one of the healthiest old labs she's ever seen, giving this family one more Thanksgiving together. 

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One Tiny Feather Lightens the Load

   

   
 






     Sunday morning, my husband and I headed out for a walk in the canyon, decked out in rain gear, from head to toe. The few people we encountered along the trail were all accompanied by a dog or two - in that inclement weather it seemed that, other than ourselves, only those who had to be out, were. We joked about walking our two invisible dogs and the bonus of not having to "scoop the poop".

     We both felt the heavy weight of this emotionally charged day as we would later be meeting our children and grandchildren at Boal Memorial for our annual tradition of decorating of a little Christmas tree, honouring our angels.
     Arriving at the midway mark of our canyon walk, I stopped on the sidewalk atop the dam and gazed down over the railing into the huge volume of water roaring down into the river below. Empty of thought, I became mesmerized. The spell was broken when, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a tiny, white object drift down beside me. Looking down at my feet, I noticed that a small feather had landed in the very narrow space between myself and the railing.  I instinctively looked up for birds, but there were none. I checked the area around me to see if more had fallen. No, only the one. It had been six months since I last saw this sign from my son, and I was overjoyed to notice this feather, today.

     By late afternoon, the rain had subsided, and by the time we arrived at Boal, the sun even made a brief appearance. After decorating the tree, lighting the candles, and singing some carols, a brilliant sunset became the backdrop for this tranquil forest setting. Later, after enjoying a fabulous family dinner, I reflected on this challenging day and felt overwhelming gratitude for the perfect way it had unfolded. It could not have gone any better.
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Dogs Show Up to Show the Way

     A few nights ago, while sleeping, I had another 'new to me' metaphysical experience. I was standing off to the left of a scene, witnessing two mature golden retrievers playfully running side by side, mere inches apart ... ears flapping, tails wagging, exuding pure happiness. There was nothing else around ... no ground, no sky, just an off-white background. Watching the two of them, I knew that this was not a dream and understood that what I was experiencing was direct spirit to spirit connection. While my physical self was resting, my spirit was connecting with these two beautiful animals. I instantly recognized our pet Amber (who died of cancer in 2002), and while the other dog was very familiar, I could not place her. 
     In the morning, when I awoke, I recalled the powerful experience and realized that the other dog had been the family pet of my younger daughter's closest childhood friend. Their dog had also passed many years ago, followed by the friend's mother, more recently.  The specific message of this experience remains unclear. Perhaps, it was to show me yet another way of connecting to the invisible, or perhaps by sharing this, it may reassure my daughter's friend that spirit does live on. Either way, it was incredible. 
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A Dog's Unconditional Love Never Dies

Being open to connecting with spirit makes for very meaningful experiences, and when sharing the messages with others, it can be the messages that appear almost insignificant to me, that make the biggest difference in someone else's life. Last night, sitting in open circle, in a venue I had not previously attended, eleven of us (ranging from beginners to highly skilled psychics and mediums) spent the latter part of the session exchanging messages for each other.  When it came time to wrap it up, the facilitator asked us if anyone had any last minute messages.  I had already shared a couple, directed at specific individuals, but almost as an afterthought, I decided to share what I felt was quite a vague one. For a good portion of our session, I had noticed a mid-sized, short-haired, black dog standing between two women seated across from me.  Looking in my direction, this dog, with it's slight build, was part of our circle - smiling, eyes sparkling, tail wagging so furiously that the entire rear end was wiggling side to side. This animal was so happy, just to be here. I had been asking the dog to please move to the person it was connected to and help me understand the message it was here to convey, but the dog remained where it was, without any additional information.  As I was explaining this scene to the group, the woman seated beside me piped up, "That's my dog Molly." It turned out that her black lab of slight build had passed away a couple of years ago, at the ripe old age of seventeen, and that they had been the best of friends. Now, this woman was experiencing a difficult split with her boyfriend and had told the universe that her next relationship would have to be with someone who loved her unconditionally, like her dog Molly had.  The woman then showed me her ring and explained that it contained her dog's ashes. That is when I was absolutely certain this was her dog. She left feeling overjoyed and supported, and I left with another reminder that my job is not to judge the value of a potential message, my job is to merely pass it on.

(Photo credit: Tanya Palazzo)

Diluted Experiences

Sharing a meal with family.  Sipping coffee with a friend.  Walking the dog.  Spending time at the playground with a child.  Out on a date with a lover.  Various scenarios offering invaluable possibilities for meaningful connection and engagement.  In the course of a day, observing individuals in each of these situations opting to dilute the experiences.  Choosing to direct energy and attention to lengthy cell phone communication with others instead.  Distracting them from the gift of the here and now.  Leaving me to wonder if they would consider taking up the challenge of being fully present.  Putting down the phone during those precious moments.  Embracing the opportunity to pick up their life instead.

Reassuring Experience

Michael coming through to visit his sisters.  Dog by his side, at the ISA last night.  Sharing specific and detailed messages with his energy. Including a shout-out to his dad as well.  Leaving no doubt as to the identity of this, their brother's, spirit.  Another reassuring experience demonstrating the continued existence of beings.  Clearly remaining connected to each other.

One Ball to Share

The sun was shining, the buds on the branches were in various stages of development, and Gulliver with his tail wagging, was carrying a huge stick in his mouth.  Such a deep feeling of contentment settled over me as I strolled along the trail this morning.  My thoughts drifted to one of the many lessons I had learned from my dog Diesel.  While walking, he would often find a tennis ball in the forest that had been left behind by another dog.  After repeatedly fetching and carrying this treasure, he would eventually drop it and continue on our outing without the ball, leaving it for the next clever dog to discover.  This one ball would bring much joy to so many.  No need for each one to have his own.   Trusting that there would be another ball to share in the future.  How beautiful! 

Brown Clowns

Chocolate Labrador Retrievers.  Among other things, they are intelligent, silly, active, fun and easy to just hang out with. They are game for whatever is going on. Diesel was the dog version of our son, with his infectious smile, caring eyes, love of water, and cabin life.  Both living in the moment.  Those two had such a deep bond and understanding of each other, with Michael teaching Diesel new tricks right to the end. Hogan, our friend's dog, Diesel's half brother and hiking buddy, had flowers sent to our home yesterday along with a card to let us know how much he misses him.  Our daughter's dog Gulliver, Diesel's nephew, has been spending more time here with us as we all share stories and comfort each other.  The three of them, AKA the "Brown Clowns", enjoyed such great times together at the cabin.  We will miss Diesel so much but it was destined that he would leave with his best friend Michael so that they could continue sharing their good times together!