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Donate Platelets!
Sacred Stories
She had been feeling lonely and homesick for their previous home of 27 years, missing friends in particular. She began reflecting on the power of connection, even small conversations with those one doesn’t know well, in the course of daily life. She recalled the early days of Covid quarantine, wherein her daily walks brought nourishing and sustaining brief encounters with people she didn’t really know, or only knew slightly—and remembered how uplifting those small exchanges were. So, she resolved to start conversations with at least a few strangers she would encounter on that day’s walk—and she did!
Out on her walk, she met a man wearing a T-shirt urging others to donate platelets — and her husband had just been scheduled to receive a transfusion of platelets, at least the 3rd or 4th such transfusion he has needed as a result of his blood cancer.
So, she was able to thank the man personally, and give him a tangible piece of evidence of how much his lifesaving blood donations meant to another person in his community. She then learned that he had donated platelets over 350 times!
Further, this man shared that he had had a heart attack and triple bypass just 3 weeks earlier, and was now on aspirin. So, he was in the process of determining how many days he would have to go without his aspirin in order to be able to donate again!
As they parted after this personal and meaningful, though brief, conversation, the man said to her: “So many people have it so much worse than we do.” She was so touched and inspired by his ability to express this perspective, when he had narrowly escaped death just 3 weeks earlier!
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Elephant Totem
Sacred Stories
She had experienced elephant as totem when she was first starting work as a clinical therapist.
Many years later, elephant energy popped into her mind one evening.
The next day a teacher/colleague (who was giving up formal office space) posted this on her Facebook wall: “Thought of you when I unpacked this. And if elephants are still significant for you — and it would bless you — would like to gift this to you.”
She wrote back, “So interesting! I was appreciating the elephant symbol in my life just yesterday, and thinking back to my first baby steps into the work we/I do. I am humbled and grateful to accept this gift.”The elephant totem or elephant medicine will bring strength, power, courage, memory, good luck, happiness, bliss, and positivity in your new undertakings. … The elephant medicine will bring you good luck, health, and positivity.
Sacred stories are evidence of our connections!
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Poppies Three
Sacred Stories
She was walking to a neighbor’s home to drop off a couple of things, and pick up a couple of other things, when she met a friend whose sister now lives on her street.
She was wearing her garden shoes. “Poppies,” she said.
Looking down at the shoes, her friend said, “I can see that.”
“I thought they were lips when I first saw them,” she admitted. They both laughed.They easily completed her tasks together and she invited her friend in for a visit.
Poppies were obvious again in the glass painting hanging in her window. (See “Poppies”) She shared having met the artist when the artist’s husband was going through cancer:
“I had never met either of them, but a colleague hired me to go to the hospital to work with him. His wife (the artist) was there, seated in a recliner next to the bed. I introduced myself and began to work with him. He quickly went deeply in. I motioned to his wife to lean the recliner back and close her eyes.
I was still working with the wife when the husband opened his eyes and blurted out,” I swear to God you someone was holding my feet.”
Matching his cadence perfectly, I replied, “I swear to God, I never work alone.”
Her friend recently discovered metastasis of breast cancer. Suddenly she had the urge to gift her friend an extra set of Medicine Cards. When the friend opened the book she saw a bookmark by Marjolein Bastin.
On the front of the book mark were POPPIES and this message:
I love the way the poppy blooms only for a day so colorfully and so expressively.
The back of the bookmark was signed: from Sue Miller — made — her mom died October 6, 1995.
This is the “spiritual meaning” of poppies: Poppies are seen as a symbol of imagination, messages delivered in dreams, beauty, success, luxury, extravagance, and even peace in death. -
Gunner
Sacred Stories
It was his birthday.
He had wanted to get a dog for so long but the landlord would not allow dogs where he lived.
So his mom went online and ordered him a little Ty puppy dog for his birthday.
When she received it, she opened the tag to see the name (each Ty animal is named).
The name of this dog was “Lil’ Gunner.”
Such an unusual name and then for a toy to be named that.
His name is Gunner!!!!
Gunner’s aunt instantly recognized the gift had come from her brother — Gunner’s grandpa — who is in spirit….
“Oh, well…. I don’t need to go further,” she said. “I just love when Spirit gives such clear and marvelous gifts.”
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Wheelchair
Sacred Stories
Late one evening, returning from a visit to her son’s, she lost her balance getting out of the car and into the house and fell. Thankfully, her daughter was with her, visiting from out of state.
She had a pretty severe skin tear on the underside of her forearm and they determined it needed medical attention.
A long covered walkway led to the entrance of the emergency room, and she was relieved to see a wheelchair had been left there. She got into a room quickly, and she received excellent care. She knew she had been guided to come. The wound needed 11 stitches and medical glue!
A couple of hours later, leaving the hospital, she sat in the wheelchair waiting for her daughter to go get the car, and chatted with the nurse, “We were so impressed that you leave a wheelchair here for folks to use when they come in.”
The nurse looked baffled. “What wheelchair?” she inquired.
“This one that I am in was sitting right here when we pulled up. We assumed it had been left here for the next patient to arrive.”
“No. We do not ever leave a wheelchair out here,” clarified the nurse.
Well, if that is the case, then this particular wheelchair had obviously been left especially for her!
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Bible!
Sacred Stories
She had been scrolling on a local Facebook “Memories” page, and happened to see her deceased husband’s writing!
A woman had purchased a bible — with this inscription — at an antique store. She had gone onto Ancestry.com and posted the photo on the local page hoping to find the family. What kindness and generosity! The woman who had purchased the bible also delivered it.
The treasured memory found its way home…
Social media can have its issues, but there are also blessings. This one might even be considered a God Moment!
This bible, in German, had belonged to her mother-in-law!
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Sea Shell
Sacred Stories
He had just spent 8 days on a meditation retreat that ordinarily would have taken place on the Emerald Isle, North Carolina, beach. The meditation teacher would ordinarily gather broken shells and give one to each participant. Due to the pandemic, this retreat was held on Zoom.
Their “virtual” opening exercise was sharing a screen and looking at many, many broken shells. The Vipassana and Pure Awareness practice taught him about accessing the light within the darkness. Learning to see the beauty within the brokenness.
The following week as he was still processing his experience, he sent this message to a new friend he had met on retreat:
“I live no where near the coast. 3 hours away…. and look what I find!”
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Retha’s Visit
Sacred Stories
It had been an intense retreat. She was grieving so many recent losses…
Her best friend had passed with ALS. Her brother passed suddenly of a heart attack while climbing the stairs to visit their mother. Then her mother passed from the coronavirus — a virus that prevented her from being able to attend her mother’s funeral.
And now, she was navigating this estrangement from her siblings.
She had been sitting all week, doing Vipassana, being with the pain while wanting freedom from the suffering.
She saw a small plastic picture frame, face-down on the chair. Picking it up, turning it over, she saw it was a drawing of a fish. A hand-made thank you card from a friend. The words read: Gratitude for all your compassionate support.
The card was signed, “Vipassana love, Retha.”Carefully lettered up the right side of the card, “Emerald Isle 2019.” They had both attended the Emerald Isle retreat last year. Seeing Retha’s card was such a powerful gift!
Retha’s visit was especially welcome as Retha had also passed….
“Whatever has the nature to arise, has the nature to cease, and is not me nor mine.”