Uncle Harry, Healing While Dying, Part #3

mountain light

Uncle Harry lived a life that was very stable, responsible and loyal to his family and friends. My brother spoke with him every Sunday for 51 years. My sister and I kept in touch with him regularly.  He always wanted to talk about politics and if we had heard from each other recently. What have you heard from your sister? Is she okay?  As our father died when we were very young, Uncle Harry had promised our Dad that he would take care of us. He kept his promise. He made sure that we went to college, attended our weddings and  heard  the news about his nephews and nieces. He never really understood why people needed to go to  psychotherapy? He would often ask me what was the point of talking about our problems? It was hard to explain.....

Uncle Harry, Part 2 healing while dying

purple turtle

Part 2 begins on November 5th when we received the call that Uncle Harry was being taken to the emergency room for a fall and bleeding. This was the day after we finally had power restored after Hurricane Sandy. We had just finished restocking the refrigerator with food for both ourselves and our two dogs. We were at the emergency room not knowing what would happen in the next couple of weeks. At the age of 94, he had never had any surgeries and he looked younger than his age. However, his body had been failing him for quite some time. He was very keenly aware of what was going on around him but had pretty much lost his ability to communicate verbally. He also had no faith in spirit or in love. He felt that he had been hurt too many times.

Uncle Harry's Death and Healing part 1

gratitude for our lives

My 94 year old Uncle Harry died on November 18th, 2012. He had moved into the Martin and Edith Stein Assisted Living Residence  about 8 months ago. When he moved in, my siblings and I were not at all sure that it would be a good fit. He was a loner, very proud  and had lived in the same house for over 85 years. That is correct and it is longer than many people are actually alive. He simply stayed put. He grew up, served in the army, got married and lived for 65 years with his wife Muriel in the house in Brooklyn. There were also deaths in the house and we thought that he might die there as well. However, he did not. He chose to live 8 more months in NJ.

You Will Never Walk Alone

Fall in Lake Derwentwater, England

I have been very remiss is writing for the past month or so.  During that time, I  travelled over to Northern England to visit my daughter who now lives in Leeds. It is Wuthering heights country in Yorkshire and really very beautiful. We were lucky that the weather was quite nice most of the time and we were able to go walking around without umbrellas. This is a photo of  Lake  Derwentwater in the Lake district near the town of Keswick.

I returned to NJ the day before hurricane Sandy visited NJ and was so glad to be back before the storm hit. Ever since then, it feels as if there has
been one drama after another. We got our power back on Sunday, November 4th, my 94 year old uncle entered the hospital on Monday, President Obama was elected as the 44nd President and today we have a Nor'Easter.

I  woke up on Election day hearing the song You Will Never Walk Alone by Mahalia Jackson  in 1961. Enjoy the walk with Miss Jackson.

Talking to Spirit

When we were walking on the tow path yesterday, my friend Maricie spotted a tiny, tiny turtle probably less than 1 inch long. It looked like a small, dark  stone. I wonder if noticing  the small  gifts from nature is our  reminder that we are all one. In fact seemingly disparate things can all be connected. For instance,  we were walking, the tiny  turtle appears, a beautiful day and we were talking about change and new growth. I also dreamt about sea turtles the night before our walk.

Dreams and multi-dimensionality

turtle dream

Last night I dreamt about a dear friend and we had a lovely time attending a gathering of our friends. I just called us this morning and she reported that she felt the such comfort during her dream last night. She stated that she felt angel wings had enveloped her during the night. Is it a coincidence that I called her today and we were able to make this connection? I don't think so. I feel like the dimensions are melding together and time is shifting. Multi- dimensionality is becoming more real. We can dream something at night and confirm it the next day.

The Dragonfly and wings of light

dragonfly feeding swarm

Last night we invited friends over for dinner. It had been a very warm summer day and there had been  lots of mosquitoes and biting insects during the day.  Just as our guests arrived, I looked through the window and saw swarms of big black bugs swirling around Pixie's head. She did not seem to mind the bugs but just in case, I used the cow bell to call both dogs into the house. They are well trained to come in quickly once the bell is rung. I guess we should call it a dog bell at this point.