Three years ago this morning my beautiful niece passed away. In 2004 it was the day before Thanksgiving. We had pizza that year on Thanksgiving Day sitting around my nephew’s dining room table. Understandably noone was in the mood to cook a traditional dinner. Life goes on even though we didn’t think it would, even though we really didn’t want it to. My 93-year-old mother opted out----a few weeks after Maureen died, she also chose to make her departure. My sister and I were the walking wounded for a while.
After this much time to ponder such an enormous event in our family, I have slowly discovered something. I knew this piece of information intellectually but I have now gotten glimpses of it in the core of my heart—and that is there is a definite existence on higher level of life. Naturally I was taught about “life after death” as a Catholic----it was framed in the context of heaven, purgatory, and of course hell. I now know there is something beyond all this.
This came about because, shortly after Maureen died, my sister’s life began to change. Well, of course, it would naturally after such a loss, but I mean in a good way. Not just good, but fabulous. Not just fabulous, but miraculous. It was odd, because as she was grieving, great things started to come her way. She became recognized in the community newspapers in many ways for her charitable work. She was asked to speak at the high school’s Homecoming celebration—the first time a woman has been bestowed this honor. She made some lovely changes in her home (with a little help from her Feng Shui sister, of course) and she began entertaining. She had some travel opportunities. An incredible financial windfall was dropped in her lap. And most recently she won $500 in a local drawing. It’s like she became charmed, in a bittersweet way. I asked her what she thought was going on. She said “It’s Maureen.”
It seems every day she sits in Maureen’s room for a few minutes and asks for strength and guidance. Then goes on about her day. As it turns out, this King Midas touch began almost instantly after Maureen left. First, in small ways. Then in bigger ways. Now, everyone is noticing. She is rather embarrassed by all the attention coming her way, admitting she’s even afraid to buy a lottery ticket because she’s pretty sure she might win. No one begrudges her change in fate. It’s a pretty known fact in my hometown that she deserves every good thing that comes her way. But why now? After her husband died twenty-five years ago, she struggled to raise her little kids by herself, worked sometimes two jobs, paid her bills on time, held her head high. Why not then?
I believe it comes down to the fact that she has asked for the help she needs, which is not something she did very often and wasn’t able to do even after the death of her husband. This time she didn’t ask me or her son for help, she asked her daughter who had died. She stretched past the concept of heaven or hell and reached to someone she knew. She put forth an intention with all of her heart, with what was left of her heart, and asked. She reached into the transcendental for answers and guidance that couldn’t be answered from here and came back with palpable results.
Does she consider this praying, I asked? She assured me she didn’t think of it as prayer. It’s simply a mother reaching out to her daughter, heart-to-heart. It’s simply one soul putting forth a heart-felt request in the hopes another soul will hear and respond. How is this any different than someone asking for a better job? an easier relationship? a chance to heal? Perhaps the difference lies in the word “heart-felt”----feeling with the heart and having the heart accept the feeling. Maybe we just don’t reach far enough with the request.
We still miss Maureen, especially around this time of year. Not only because she left us at Thanksgiving, but also because she loved the holidays. Yet I see now that she really isn’t far away at all. I need only reach out.
After this much time to ponder such an enormous event in our family, I have slowly discovered something. I knew this piece of information intellectually but I have now gotten glimpses of it in the core of my heart—and that is there is a definite existence on higher level of life. Naturally I was taught about “life after death” as a Catholic----it was framed in the context of heaven, purgatory, and of course hell. I now know there is something beyond all this.
This came about because, shortly after Maureen died, my sister’s life began to change. Well, of course, it would naturally after such a loss, but I mean in a good way. Not just good, but fabulous. Not just fabulous, but miraculous. It was odd, because as she was grieving, great things started to come her way. She became recognized in the community newspapers in many ways for her charitable work. She was asked to speak at the high school’s Homecoming celebration—the first time a woman has been bestowed this honor. She made some lovely changes in her home (with a little help from her Feng Shui sister, of course) and she began entertaining. She had some travel opportunities. An incredible financial windfall was dropped in her lap. And most recently she won $500 in a local drawing. It’s like she became charmed, in a bittersweet way. I asked her what she thought was going on. She said “It’s Maureen.”
It seems every day she sits in Maureen’s room for a few minutes and asks for strength and guidance. Then goes on about her day. As it turns out, this King Midas touch began almost instantly after Maureen left. First, in small ways. Then in bigger ways. Now, everyone is noticing. She is rather embarrassed by all the attention coming her way, admitting she’s even afraid to buy a lottery ticket because she’s pretty sure she might win. No one begrudges her change in fate. It’s a pretty known fact in my hometown that she deserves every good thing that comes her way. But why now? After her husband died twenty-five years ago, she struggled to raise her little kids by herself, worked sometimes two jobs, paid her bills on time, held her head high. Why not then?
I believe it comes down to the fact that she has asked for the help she needs, which is not something she did very often and wasn’t able to do even after the death of her husband. This time she didn’t ask me or her son for help, she asked her daughter who had died. She stretched past the concept of heaven or hell and reached to someone she knew. She put forth an intention with all of her heart, with what was left of her heart, and asked. She reached into the transcendental for answers and guidance that couldn’t be answered from here and came back with palpable results.
Does she consider this praying, I asked? She assured me she didn’t think of it as prayer. It’s simply a mother reaching out to her daughter, heart-to-heart. It’s simply one soul putting forth a heart-felt request in the hopes another soul will hear and respond. How is this any different than someone asking for a better job? an easier relationship? a chance to heal? Perhaps the difference lies in the word “heart-felt”----feeling with the heart and having the heart accept the feeling. Maybe we just don’t reach far enough with the request.
We still miss Maureen, especially around this time of year. Not only because she left us at Thanksgiving, but also because she loved the holidays. Yet I see now that she really isn’t far away at all. I need only reach out.
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