-
Caroline and Clifford
She was navigating what is sometimes called ‘adult orphan syndrome’ or ‘double parental bereavement’ or ‘double parental loss’ PLUS she and her husband moved from the Midwest to the Northwest soon after her mom had passed so she was terribly missing her siblings as well.
Spending a few days in Florida with her snowbird sister severely stirred the emotional waters… but a beautiful gift began to appear. While they were looking for a bargain at a Goodwill store — one of their mom’s all-time favorite things to do was to beat the bushes for a bargain — they saw a dress by “Carol Anderson” — her mom’s maiden name!
Then sightseeing with some friends in the Villages a couple of days later she saw a sign for Village of Caroline!
Not to be left out… she also saw a sign for Clifford Villas. Clifford is her dad’s name!!!
“Everything science has taught me strengthens my belief in the continuity of our spiritual existence after death. I believe in an immortal soul. Science has proved that nothing disintegrates into nothingness. Life and soul, therefore, cannot disintegrate into nothingness, and so are immortal.” ~ Werner Von Braun
-
Florida Scrub Jay
She and her husband were avid birders. They loved traveling with a group, often going distant places in search of specific birds. One such sought-after species was the Florida Scrub Jay.
According to Wikipedia, the Florida Scrub Jay is the only species of bird endemic to Florida and one of only 15 species endemic to the continental United States. Because of this, it is keenly sought by birders. She and her husband had made this trip previously with their group, but the Scrub Jay had eluded them each trip.
After he passed, she decided to go to Florida in search of the Florida Scrub Jay one more time. This time, while she was there, she would spread some of her husband’s ashes.
Although in Florida, there are no state laws or restrictions on where you can keep or scatter ashes, she wanted to do this privately. When she felt the time was right, she hung back from the group and discreetly scattered his ashes at her feet.
Suddenly the entire group swarmed her! The precious, previously-elusive, prized Florida Scrub Jay flew down immediately and began eating her husband’s ashes!!!
She laughed later with friends saying she wondered what parts of him were being enjoyed, but mostly she let her heart be held by this evidence of his loving presence….
-
Jingles’ Promise: Asking for a Sign
Source: Jingles’ Promise: A Father’s Quest for Truth on the Appalachian Trail shared as a Sacred Story with permission from Norm “Jingles” Morris and Rochelle “SherpaShell” Morris. (p. 86-87)
(ALL PROCEEDS FROM THE SALE OF THIS BOOK WILL BE DONATED TO HELP PEOPLE RECOVERING FROM TRAUMA AND LOSS.)Adam was a poet. The last poem he wrote was titled “DragonFly”. The day we picked up his ashes, I asked for a sign, anything to let me know that he was still with me. Something I could believe in and get comfort from… something that Jingles could also recognize.
That day, when I got home, there on the back door knob what was the biggest dragonfly I’ve ever seen. It’s translucent purple wings had a five-inch spread. I felt Adam’s smile envelop me with warm, love and kindness. I let go of my fear and longing and out. I was at peace. I asked the dragonfly to stay where it was until Jingles got home to see it. It did! Adam was always a good boy like that.
Spiritual teachings describe dragonflies, butterflies, birds, electrical events and other phenomenon of nature as signs that our loved ones from across the veil may be present.
When you get a sign, instead of brushing it off, lift your gaze and open your heart. What’s the worst thing that can happen… someone standing next to you in line thinks you’re crazy? It just may be the beginning of a beautiful conversation.
About Jingles’ Promise: A Father’s Quest for Truth on the Appalachian Trail : This is a true story from authors who are soulmates and mental health therapists. It is a tale of love, sorrow, forgiveness, mystery, and perseverance that celebrates life and the human spirit. Jingles tells the story of his Appalachian Trail hike from Georgia to Maine while SherpaShell provides support from the backroads in her camper van. Together, they reflect on their experiences and insights with the hope of helping others recover from loss and trauma.
-
Monet Double-Sided Puzzle
They were visiting with friends and family who all live in Michigan, while wintering in Florida. They had gotten together because their sister-in-law had come for a short visit — the first time of her being in the RV park where she and her husband had wintered together for many years.
The conversation got around to doing jigsaw puzzles. She said, “A friend sent a Monet double-sided puzzle to us.”
The puzzle had been sent as a gift following her husband’s heart surgery. The friend who sent it assumed he did puzzles with her because every puzzle was finished by him placing the last piece and posing for a photo.
When he asked to be reminded which of there friends had sent the puzzle, she replied, “Sue Spitler.”
“Sue Spitler?!?” their sister-in-law blurted out before continuing to share that Sue had made a donation to the church in memorial of her husband. Not recognizing the donor’s name, she had flagged the donation and when she came upon it again she had searched on line, found numbers for several people named “Sue Spitler” then called the one in Indiana, thinking perhaps it had been a customer of her husband. She felt such a strong desire to know from whom the gift had come.
Speaking to Sue Spitler, their sister-in-law had discovered Sue was not a customer, and had not known her late husband at all. The donation had been made because Sue wanted to honor the brother of her dear friend.
Interestingly, although that donation has been made 16 months earlier, their sister-in-law had come across the notation of the mystery donor and had done the internet search and made the call to identify “Sue Spitler” as the donor just three weeks ago …
-
Death Is Nothing At All
by Henry Scott-HollandDeath is nothing at all.
It does not count.
I have only slipped away into the next room.
Nothing has happened.Everything remains exactly as it was.
I am I, and you are you,
and the old life that we lived so fondly together is untouched, unchanged.
Whatever we were to each other, that we are still.Call me by the old familiar name.
Speak of me in the easy way which you always used.
Put no difference into your tone.
Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow.Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes that we enjoyed together.
Play, smile, think of me, pray for me.
Let my name be ever the household word that it always was.
Let it be spoken without an effort, without the ghost of a shadow upon it.Life means all that it ever meant.
It is the same as it ever was.
There is absolute and unbroken continuity.
What is this death but a negligible accident?Why should I be out of mind because I am out of sight?
I am but waiting for you, for an interval,
somewhere very near,
just round the corner.All is well.
Nothing is hurt; nothing is lost.
One brief moment and all will be as it was before.
How we shall laugh at the trouble of parting when we meet again! -
Birds in Their Homes
Each winter when this snow bird flies south she takes a huge box of jigsaw puzzles. Her husband always puts the last piece in and she takes a photo.
Imagine her surprise and delight when she saw a post on Facebook showing that her god-daughter and family had just finished the same puzzle over 1,200 miles away back in Michigan!
The comment on the photo in Facebook speaks volumes: “… one of our prettiest puzzles yet – and we didn’t lose any pieces! Our puzzle time is such a bonding time.”
I guess humans are birds in their homes too!!!!
Faith is the bird that feels the light and sings when the dawn is still dark. ~ Rabindranath Tagore
-
Philippine Pre-school
They had both been born in the Philippines, but they met through a dating app in Los Angles, where they currently lived.
Soon they discovered a powerful coincidence: They had attended the same preschool!
The incidence might not seem like a big deal unless you know the Philippines consist of over 7,600 islands and over 2,000 of those are inhabited.
Needless to say, they got happily married….
-
Connections-Bob’s Email
Barbara’s Spur of the Moment:
Steve, my new neighbor, and I discovered a mutual acquaintance named Bob.
Sadly, neither of us had seen Bob for many years and had no contact info.
Months later Christmas came and I received an email greeting from Irene, a friend in Australia. Lo and behold Bob’s email info was included in the mailing!
From Denver, Colorado through an Australian connection I was able to reach out to Bob in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for a happy reunion email chat and help reconnect Steve and Bob long after their acquaintance in Hartford, Connecticut.
God is good. -
Booking Error Looking Like a Blessing
When they arrived at their destination in Hawaii, there was an error in their booking dates (December 22 and 24).
Then as they were preparing to fly back to Canada, all the flights were cancelled….
“If you are unable to get out, just come back, you can stay here. I will leave a key for you,” they were told.
They enjoyed two extra days in the sun and warm.
That “booking error” was looking like a blessing!
-
Tarpon Technology Solutions
Having been displaced in her snowbird home by Hurricane Ian, she spent almost a month with family on her way to a home-away-from her normal away-from home. She had some laptop computer challenges earlier while staying with their daughter in Tennessee, but when she got to Florida her laptop would not boot up.
She logged onto Zoom with her iPhone to be with her Florida meditation group and overheard some conversation. “Have you heard anything from Adam since the hurricane?”
“No, I have not,” the teacher replied.
So many she knows have been affected, her compassion was right at the surface. Then the conversation took an interesting turn as the student continued, “Adam is the only person I would trust my computer to….”
Excitedly excusing herself for intruding, she said she needed to have Adam’s contact information because she had been unable to log on to her computer since she had left Tennessee!
It will come to pass that before they call,
I will answer;
and while they are still speaking,
I will hear.
~ Isaiah 65:24 -
Drawn to the Desert
Sacred Stories
She was feeling such disappointment, hurt, and anger. Her husband had essentially told her he could not support her plans to go to Morocco. Her daughter felt the same way, “You are too old. That ship has sailed….”
Pouring out her heart about all of this the following day, her sister listened and expressed compassion, then asked her to speak of what the idea of the trip meant to her. “Almost like a vision quest. Out of my comfort zone. Wanting to prove to myself I am capable. Learning a lot about fear. I have a heart connection with the friend I have met online and I would like to meet her. I want to go to the desert.”
Her sister looked up ‘desert spiritual meaning’ and read out loud to her essentially all her heart had just spoken!
The desert symbolizes survival, creativity, clarity, revelations, loneliness, and overcoming life’s greatest obstacles.
Metaphorically, the desert is a place of testing and transformation, of being divested of empire and ego. In the desert experience, the dreams, goals, and visions of the false self can be seen clearly, sometimes for the first time. The desert symbolizes the terrain in which we unlearn empire spirituality.
Wow….
“You have a clear sense of what it is for you,” her sister said, fully understanding the feelings of disappointment and anger. “It might be helpful to be clear on that intention and be open to multiple ways to integrate all of this in your life. It seems that thinking there is only one way something can happen is the ego and the empire spirituality the symbolism is describing.”
Even with the feelings still present, she could see truth in that.
The following morning her sister’s supposedly-randomly-selected screen saver was a desert scene, and this message from the book The Language of Letting Go: Daily Meditations on Codependency shared by a friend spoke so succinctly of the situation:
Too often, we try to gain a clear perspective before it is time. That will make us crazy. We do not always know why things are happening the way they are….Today, I will let things happen without trying to figure everything out. If clarity is not available to me today, I will trust it to come later, in retrospect. I will put simple trust in the truth that all is well, events are unfolding as they should, and all will work out for good in my life—better than I can imagine.