A Druid’s Primer for Land Healing, Part V: The Magic of Witnessing, Holding Space, Apology, and Remembrance

Thank you, as usual, Dana, for such thorough and helpful ways of healing the land. What will end up being a six week stay in PA has highlighted for me just how much remedial land healing I’ve done in Goshen, and how much more still needs to be done. It has been so lovely to live among mature trees, cleaner air, and land that doesn’t get rocked by train motions and whistles all day and night long. So nice. And yet, as lovely and restorative as it feels to be here — even with all the intensity of my father’s death and mother’s move — I have again begun to feel the pull of the land in Goshen, crying out for deeper, sustained healing.

I strongly resonate with Dana’s comments about having both the capacity and the willingness to see land that needs healing. It feels so much easier not to see, to ignore the broken places, to wipe them from our awareness and our memory. And yet … how does land heal if we don’t find ways to stop the abuse cycle? How do areas heal if few or no models exist for harmonious interactions with land that wants to thrive again? I’ve enjoyed this series and look forward to more posts. They share much I’ve already implemented, but I always learn something new from Dana! Blessed Be.

The Druid's Garden

Sometimes, the hidden, the unacknowledged hurts are the worst kind. These are the kind that you bury, deep within yourself, or that a society pretends never happened. We hear stories of these every day–massive cover-ups of the truth of crimes being revealed, people coming forth after decades of silence, the relief that one feels when one can finally talk about something he or she experienced. If you’ve ever been in this situation, where something happened to you, and you were forced to keep it silent, you’ll understand what I’m talking about here. Having others know, to see, to understand alone are acts of tremendous healing power. And it is in this topic where we continue our series on land healing, and the work we can do as druids and other earth-based spiritual practitioners, permaculturists, and those who fight for a better today and tomorrow.

In my latest post on this…

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Calling Up The Wind

Beautiful Tania! So good to hear you sing again. I, too, remember you singing this long, long ago. Thank you for sharing this sacred sound.

Tania Marie

When we reached the top of Watchman Trail in Zion National Park, I felt a sudden inspiration bubble up from within wanting through as a song.

This is a snippet of what Nature’s vista all around me, the majestic peaks in front of me, and what I was feeling, gently brought forth.

The short sound channeling of the organic song within my heart that I just allowed to flow as it wanted, suddenly called up the wind in a major way.

The whole time on the trail there had been no wind or just gentle canyon breezes, but suddenly with great force a huge gust came through stirring up the sandstone, as I sang, mirroring the power of the heart when we express it.

This wind stopped when I stopped singing and did not return until later when I was asking for a sign on an inspired idea that came…

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Why enchantment matters

I just ordered my copy of “If Women Rose Rooted” and have been eagerly awaiting the chance to read this! I’m so fortunate to know so many enchanted men, as well. Here’s to re-enchanted lives and a re-enchanted world! Thank you, Sharon, for this gift to all beings. ❤

How Am I?

A lot of people keep writing, texting and otherwise asking me how I’m doing after my father’s passing, so I thought I’d post an update here. Overall, I’m feeling very good about how everything transpired. Some people know that I had received an intuitive heads up back in January that my dad would likely pass sometime around March 10, 2016, after the house signing, but while David and I were still here on our originally intended visit. Since I’ve received those sorts of heads up’s before and have only ever been “off” by one day, we took this seriously, preparing ourselves that he could very well pass during our stay.

Some people have expressed surprise, even shock, that my “magick couldn’t keep him alive,” or confusion because when they sent Reiki to him, “he had so much life force energy in him.” Aren’t I upset and confused by this, too?

First of all, my dad had an extra 4.5 powerful, deeply healing and transforming years with us, for which we’re all grateful. Yes, I miss him, but I could have missed him a long time ago and without the healing and closure his extra time gifted us.

Second, if it’s someone’s time to go — cosmic expiration date and/or soul choice — then I don’t want my magick to interfere with that process. That’s not the kind of magick or energy work I practice! I offer healing, supportive energy for the Highest Good of All, including seen and unseen factors and beings. I don’t view it as my place to override a natural, chosen process, even if I could. My dad passed in a beautiful way, with loved ones present, within 24-hours of when I’d sensed he would leave his body.

Sometimes premonitions come to help alter the trajectory. I’ve avoided many a dire situation by listening to messages from dreams or persistent, uncharacteristic “worries.” But many times, a premonition arrives not to change the overall situation, but to help deal with it in the most conscious and healing way. I believe that’s what happened with my father’s passing. For about six months, I had sensed he would pass on a Thursday, and in January, I got “word” that he’d likely transition while David and I were present this March. My dad dropped into a non-responsive state on Thursday, March 10, and he passed peacefully on Friday, the 11th.

Third, no, I’m not completely immune to human emotions. I feel incredibly at peace with his transition, but multiple times per day, I still think of things I want to tell my dad about “their” new home. I get really excited to show him photos of how I’m setting things up for my mom, and then I realize, “Oh. Right. No photos for Dad.” That takes the wind out of my sails a bit. But then I realize he can already see what I’m doing there, probably even before I do it! My brother and father had both commissioned me to use my decorating and “space creating” skills to turn the new home into a sanctuary. It’s the perfect creative project for this time, and I feel good honoring my dad’s last wishes.

Plus: retail therapy works! My mom and I aren’t going crazy with the new purchases, but after 30 years in a family home, some things deserve retirement. I love, love, love creating sacred spaces, and my mom has had me do this in the past for some of her friends. I really enjoy quizzing her on all the things she’s wished for in a home, and we’re finding ways to make those a reality. This new space will be sooooo “Jane,” and I’ve always wanted her to have that kind of freedom to express herself with no restrictions. My mom and I have our moments, but we both feel very at peace and continue to embrace the new.

My brother, Craig, and his wife, Adin, are doing reasonably well, in large part because my mom decided to give them my parents’ dog, Darcy, who had become too much for my mom to handle on her own. Darcy has a special fondness for my sister-in-law, and she has “rocked their world.” In a good way. Having this extra bundle of 6-year-old “puppy” energy and lap dog love has injected their lives with healing and joy at a time of loss and sorrow. Big blessings for everyone, including my mom, who no longer feels guilty for not giving Darcy the kind of life she deserves.

The most difficult part of this time period for me has been recognizing the extreme pain of my sister and her two boys, who as the local family who spent lots of quality time with my dad on holidays, birthdays and at soccer games, feel my dad’s absence in acutely tangible ways that I don’t, having spent most of my past 24 years living elsewhere. Feeling their pain and the palpable shift in their lives is really hard, so if you’d like to send Reiki and prayers, please send them for healing, support, and peace for Erica, Owen and Anthony.

We would also love continued prayers for the safe, easy and seamless transition of my mom into her new home. I’ve set the move-in date for April 2. We have packers and movers, but we still need to go through everything to decide what stays or goes. My mom loves having someone living in the house with her, so I think some of this might hit her more strongly once I head home on April 9. We’ll have her birthday together, but then my sister becomes the only local daughter, and a very busy one at that.

I’m working to get support systems in place for my mom, and the new community she’s moving to are about the friendliest folks I’ve ever encountered. Coupled with my mom’s church community and contacts from her 25 years working at Lehigh University, she knows people everywhere. It will still be an adjustment to live alone, though, even if I turn her home into the most beautiful, cheerful Jane sanctuary we can imagine.

As far as sessions, I’m definitely up to doing them. It’s much more a matter of time than ability at this point, so I can only fit them in as I have time to do them amidst moving, legal and financial logistics. All in all, all is well. Heartfelt thank you’s to everyone who cares and who has been following this journey and sending love, prayers and healing energy.

Love and blessings,

Laura

 

 

 

March 2016 Special

I wasn’t going to list any specials for March, given how topsy-turvy and demanding this phase of my family’s life has been; however, I always offer these specials based on intuition. Today, I got a heads up to post one special for the remaining ten days of March. It’s a mini-package, and I’m posting this special with the understanding that the package can be stretched out a bit, not all used up in March!

Although I’m back to scheduling and doing some sessions, I won’t be able to return to my full weekly load of sessions until after the week of April 11. I’ve still got my mom’s move to orchestrate here, along with getting her settled into her new place and life. With that said, I am setting aside time several blocks during the week to fit in sessions, and I did feel nudged to offer at least one special this month.

MARCH 2016 SPECIAL

$275 Two-Hour Intuitive Coaching Package

Save $75 off the usual rate. This two-hour package can be used as two (hour long) sessions, or split into four half hours to stretch our time together. This special covers any of my intuitive and/or coaching services. You can mix and match health, relationship, career or other concerns into a single session, or use each session to focus on a different topic. Offer valid if prepaid on or before March 31, 2016. Please contact me to sign up.

A Good Reminder for Our World

With all the private and public intensities and competing polarities right now, especially before Wednesday’s lunar eclipse, it feels right to post this link to an important 2014 post: El Mundo Bueno.

Remember to summon and receive “The Good Reality.” It’s always here for the experiencing. Magic and miracles abound whenever we open our eyes and hearts to recognize them.

Happy Spring!

My Dad’s Prayer Speech and Obituary

Today’s post will be the last in this series sharing my dad’s final weeks. As promised, on the day of my dad’s memorial service, I’m posting the prayer testimonial he had my sister, Erica, deliver to five church services a few weekends ago. If you’ve read this full series, you already know that my dad did not always believe in prayer, energy and things unseen. Although he opted for different treatment routes than I personally would have chosen, his cancer journey brought us much closer: between “chemo brain,” miraculous healing and divine intervention, my father finally began to understand the way I live my daily life.

He considered this speech one of the most important offerings of his life, and it seems appropriate that the “Prayer Is” conference takes place this week in the same location as his memorial service. The night of my dad’s “aura” experience, he had also finally given me permission to send him Reiki and to request all the Reiki students and Master Teachers I had trained to send Reiki to him. Prior to that day, he had felt varying degrees of fear or skepticism towards Reiki, but since that day, he gladly received it. In fact, his final moments on this Earth passed with me providing Reiki to his heart until I could no longer distinguish between its beating and my own pulse. Having my sister read this testimonial for him when he was too ill to do so himself was one of the greatest gifts anyone has ever given him.

I have also included as my first comment below the beautiful obituary my brother, Craig, wrote for Sunday’s Morning Call. My dad always enjoyed teaching, and last night we encountered many students, colleagues, ride recipients, bridge partners, friends, relatives and casual acquaintances my dad affected in profound ways. Somehow, the combination of my dad’s words and my brother’s words about my dad seem like the fullest way to complete this series. I’ve heard from so many of you how this journey has affected your own lives, and I know my father would feel honored and humbled by his impact. Thank you for all the love and care for our family during this sacred time together.

Steve Derbenwick’s Witness Statement

Good Morning.   My name is Steve Derbenwick.   Around here I am probably best known as Jane Derbenwick’s husband with the weird cancer.  I had no exposure to religion as a child and only a little bit of church attendance in high school and graduate school plus a rigorous undergradate course on the Old Testament.  I have struggled with religious issues for most of my adult life but it has been hard for a highly analytical science oriented academic introvert like me to find the answers I sought.   Although I have been coming to First Pres for over four decades, I never went through the process to become a member.

With that preamble you may be wondering why I am up here today.  The answer is what happened in July 2011.  I was hospitalized with a type of total intestinal blockage that rarely affects adults.  Before my surgery Jane asked if I wanted to be on the Prayer Chain.  I said yes, but I confess I wasn’t very optimistic then that it would make a big difference.

During surgery, my doctor uncovered a marble sized lymphoma that had triggered the blockage.   Subsequent tests revealed I had a very rare and highly aggressive cancer called Mantle Cell Lymphoma with many golf ball sized and larger lymphomas throughout my body.  My case was the worst of its four varieties. The quoted mortality rate was 95% at 4 years but before I could deal with this life threatening cancer I faced a more immediate crisis.

About a week after my surgery, I awoke from a short afternoon nap, rang my buzzer and told my nurse I had no idea what was wrong with me but I felt horrible.  That complaint triggered a whole flurry of activity ending with a CAT scan that revealed a very large pulmonary embolism that would eventually make my right lung virtually useless for over 5 months.  That night I lay in bed fearing I could die if another clot affecting my other lung came through.  I remember thinking how terrible it would be to die without being able to say goodbye to the people I loved.  I remember praying that they could forgive me if that happened.  But before I got around to praying for myself, something amazing happened that I cannot really describe adequately.

Suddenly a very bright gold or orange aura appeared inside or surrounding my head.  The accompanying message was an assurance that everything would be all right and I relaxed.  What I thought then and still believe is that the prayers of everyone who had been praying for me somehow coalesced and formed this amazing protective shield.  I survived the night and the next day my nurse told me I was already turning blue when I rang buzzer the day before.  A week later I learned that one of the new resident doctors had spent that entire night in my room or just a few steps away from it.

My battle with the cancer then began and followed the usual progression – chemotherapy, radiation, remission, and relapse followed by a different chemotherapy.  Along the way my body decided a 6 week long nasty case of shingles in my head would just add to the fun.  The second type of chemotherapy was a total failure.  When it was finished in December 2013, all my tumors had at least doubled in size and I had twice as many.  I figured I had a couple of months to live but another miracle happened for me – the FDA had just given super accelerated approval to a new daily oral chemotherapy drug for my cancer based on just a Phase II study with only 111 subjects.   I started on that medicine immediately and 3 months later only one tumor was left.  In the spring of 2015, that tumor was presumably destroyed with radiation treatments although its shell still appears on a CAT scan.

During this long ordeal it was very easy for the negative thoughts like anger, frustration, self-pity, and depression to creep in.  Every time that happened I remembered that special night in the hospital and I relaxed.

In May 2015, I made a list of my 12 personal miracles – things that went my way but just as easily could have gone the other way.  Just imagine the odds of flipping a coin and having it come up heads 12 times in a row when your life depends on it.  That has been my experience.

What do I think I have done in my life to deserve such good luck – absolutely nothing.  I attribute it all to the power of all those prayers being said for me.  I am constantly amazed at how many people tell Jane they are praying for me even when I am not on the Official Prayer Chain.  Many of you do not even know me personally.  Thank you all so much.  I won’t classify my life as easy now but the fact that I am here today is evidence that those prayers really work.

On March 13 through March 17 First Pres will be offering its annual Prayer Is event.  I hope you can appreciate how meaningful and emotional this opportunity is for me every year.   I think everyone can benefit from devoting as many moments as you wish to the solitude, peace, introspection, and opportunity to pray for yourself and others that this dedicated prayer time and environment provides.  Please try to attend.

When I prepared these remarks a few weeks ago I expected to deliver them from a position of strength.  Instead I again find myself facing serious health issues and extreme fatigue.  Nevertheless I am very grateful to be able to tell you my story today.  Thank you for listening.

Revel in Paradise, Dad!

Hi Everyone,

This past few weeks has been such a blur of travel, visitors, hospital, hospice, 40-50 phone calls per day, 5-10 people in and out of the house each day, house closing, financial arrangements for my mom, moving arrangements and more. Mostly, we spent the time with my dad and/or honoring his last wishes.

On Friday and Saturday, my dad had the family reunion he had hoped for, as all three of his brothers and their wives came into town before my brother left for Chicago. My dad was so happy to see everyone together again, and each person got to say a personal goodbye to my dad. While my dad rested, we all spent quality time together at some good local restaurants and got caught up on the time since my grandmother passed in 2013. Some of them had seen each other since then, but not all together. The big family meals celebrated my dad’s life and all he had done for my grandmother.

David arrived last Sunday, and my dad immediately had the father-son-caregiver-to-caregiver talk he’d been so looking forward to. My dad felt a strong bond with David, because both of them took care of their parents — David continuing to care for both of his, my dad having cared for my Grandma Van for 37 years. My dad was so cute during that conversation. He had obviously given David’s situation a great deal of consideration, and he looked like a Zen Master in his hospital bed, with closed eyes, folded hands, and then quiet insights and words of wisdom. It turned out to be perfect timing, as we spoke for about an hour and a half. My dad didn’t have that kind of stamina after Sunday.

On Monday, he went for a platelet infusion, and one of his favorite ministers from my mom’s church surprised him there with a prayer session. Even though the journey and treatment took hours, my dad arrived home extremely lucid and enthused — quite different than his usual knocked out response to platelets. He and I spoke for awhile that evening, and he said, “Laura, this was a good day!” By then, I had arranged a date for their move, and we were on countdown to signing the paperwork for my parents’ new house.

Tuesday was a very rough day for him, but fortunately, by that point, we had a live in caregiver who had already really bonded with my dad. She made that day as easy as possible for him, as did various hospice visitors, while my mom, David and I ran all the errands and made and answered the avalanche of phone calls related to their move, his care, relatives, and setting things into place for my mom. Somewhere in there, due to David’s extra support, I managed to get caught up on most of the previous week’s cancelled phone sessions.

Wednesday, my mom, David and I met the realtor at the new house for the walk through and then attended the signing with my mom, while I kept my sister and brother apprised of any developments and got my mom’s utilities set up and switched over to her name. Their power of attorney wasn’t strong enough for my mom to sign for the house on her own, so the title company woman drove to my parents’ house and waited for nearly two hours as I coached my dad through all those signatures, held the clipboard for him, and ensured he got sufficient breaks along the way. She was wonderful. It was heartbreaking seeing how difficult signing his name had become for my dad, but we all knew this was a key goal for him before he passed. He did it!

On Tuesday night, I had let my dad know we wanted to take my mom out to celebrate the house signing and asked if he wanted us to bring him anything on Wednesday for his own celebration. He suggested taking my mom to a Turkish restaurant near their home and asked for us to bring him a Menchie’s frozen yogurt on our way home, since the places were next door to each other. Even though my dad had eaten nothing for days at that point, he made sure to eat his celebratory vanilla frozen yogurt! He thanked me, kissed my hand, and said he loved me. He finished the other half of his yogurt on Thursday morning, and then slipped into a largely non-responsive state.

Thursday was a rough day for him — and for all of us who heard him suffering. We switched prayers for healing to prayers for a swift and easy transition. By evening, a night nurse with a lot of experience at this stage came for an overnight stay and helped us to figure out which medications would help and which increased his agitation. She got him calmed down, but he was still somewhat restless into Friday, when we had arranged for a massage therapist/Reiki Master from hospice to be here, as well as his minister. My sister took off work that day, too, and read him a message and some verses from a minister my dad had really connected with before the pastor moved to Texas. As the hospice worker sent Reiki to my dad’s feet, I sent it to his crown, so he was bathed in healing energy for much of the morning. I had trained my sister last July to Reiki Level 1, and she gave him a lot of Reiki during that time, too.

Yesterday afternoon, I realized for sure that he would not make it until next Wednesday, when we had the appointment with the funeral home, so I called to see if they could meet with us sooner. David agreed to stay with my dad while my mom, sister and I made arrangements to honor him in an appropriate way. David says that as soon as we sat down for the meeting with the funeral director, my dad’s breathing changed, and his body became completely peaceful. He remained that way for the rest of the day.

Since David had planned to leave this morning, he and I met my sister and nephews out for gluten-free vegan pizza to help them process losing their grandpa. My mom and a caregiver my dad knew were both here while we ate dinner. We all had a good time together, and then Google maps directed David and me a truly bizarre way to get home. As a result, we passed the ABE airport, and I remembered all the times my dad had dropped me off there, all the goodbyes. I cried and told David, “My dad’s never going to drop me off at the airport again.” Then I remembered how happy my dad was when my flight got cancelled after Grandma Van’s funeral. He picked me up again after hours at the airport and even though he’d need to drive me there at 5 a.m. the next day, he said, “I’m so glad you missed your flight. It felt too sudden to have you leave so fast. I’m glad we’ll get the extra time together.”

When David and I returned home last night, I sat with my dad for awhile, gave him some Reiki, kissed his forehead and said I love you and goodbye. My father passed very peacefully around 8:30 p.m. East Coast time last night (3/11/16). I had just said my goodbye and stepped into the shower. David and my mom ran up to say my father had stopped breathing. I threw on some clothes, ran downstairs and put my hand on his heart, which was still beating strongly. I gave him Reiki until his heart stopped, so he passed with Reiki, me, David and my mom there, plus a nice caregiver he had met before and liked.  It was as peaceful as someone could pass. So glad I came when I did, and David and I felt he would pass while we were both here.

My sister and I agreed that I’ll post my dad’s prayer testimonial she read two Sunday’s ago as my blog’s memorial service to my dad. I had written his eulogy while he still lived, so that he could read it. Not only did my dad read that eulogy, but he printed it out and read it each morning “to strengthen” him. My sister and I both independently had the idea for me to post his speech on my blog, and I will do so on the day of his memorial service. We’re still making arrangements.

Last night, after hospice and the funeral home had taken care of my dad’s body, we spent time with my mom and then got ready for bed. As we were in my dad’s old bathroom, I clearly heard my dad say, “Thank you, Laura.” Then he paused and said with delight, “Wow, it’s really nice up here!” Another pause, and then, “Tell your mother I love her.”

My dad, who always loved his physical space, got his new home after all — just much more expansive than he imagined. His parakeet, Buddy, has been very subdued all week, but this morning, he started singing and ringing his bell to the point where David said, “Maybe Buddy’s singing to Steve right now.” Buddy cocked his head at us and went on singing.

Revel in Paradise, Dad! We love you!

Status Update on my Dad and Sessions

Hi, and thanks to everyone for your continued prayers, love and energy healing. My family and I do appreciate them and can feel them working in our lives. So many little synchronicities and loving encounters continue to fill our lives. Thank you.

I’m writing primarily so that I have a quick link I can send in response to so many emails, especially emails inquiring about scheduling sessions right now. Since people don’t seem to be reading all the way to the bottom of updates, I’m posting the session announcement first, with my dad’s status update below. For some reason, I’ve been receiving an unusually high influx of new session requests from people who’ve been reading my blog or have known about me for years but decided this is the time they want to jump in for our work together. I encourage jumping in, but my pool is shifting right now, so anyone wanting time with me needs to have patience.

As I’ve mentioned, I need extreme flexibility in scheduling for the foreseeable future, but especially for the next few weeks. I’m not shutting down my business, but the kind of work I do requires total presence, focus, expansive consciousness, a private room, and deep emotional reserves, as many of those I help are going through major transitions in their lives. Right now, my family and I are going through that sort of transition. I’m prioritizing sessions that need to be rescheduled, but at this point I cannot offer anything new before the week of March 21st, and even that might get pushed back pending new developments.

Yesterday morning, my dad received news that his cancer has now filled his bone marrow. Normally, this would mean he has only weeks, if that, to live, but I can actually see all the life force energy pouring into the crown of his head. It’s a tremendous flow, and it seems to be keeping the cancer contained at this time. Although my dad’s platelet counts remain dangerously low, his other blood work indicates no spread of the cancer. That could change at any moment, but for now, his unusual state keeps baffling everyone at the hospital. He knows he’s receiving so much prayer and healing, though, that he credits this (and his attitude) with keeping him alive long enough to accomplish as many of his remaining to-do’s as possible.

My dad, his doctor, and our family have decided to transition my dad to “palliative” care, and my dad strongly prefers to return home. Given the extent of his non-cancer symptoms, this would require round the clock care, so today we are interviewing not only  hospice providers who can work in the home, but also visiting nurse organizations, since he needs 24 hour care in order to make this time as pain free and lucid as possible. Ironically, the non-cancer quality of life issues make it likely that my dad will be able to continue receiving treatments that can prolong his life in a positive way, since he needs platelet infusions in order to tolerate other “quality of life” options not normally considered part of hospice.

My brother spoke with my dad’s oncologist, who says my dad is one of his all time favorite patients, and this doctor wants to go above and beyond to ensure my dad can extend his time since my dad continues to touch so many people’s lives. We have received so much feedback from people all around town about my dad’s speech about the power of prayer in his life. At first, my dad felt disappointed he didn’t have strength to read it himself, but the power of having my sister read it at five church services has created a flood of impact on so many people. Wherever we go, people seem to have heard the speech and mention how deeply and powerfully it affected them. My dad’s doctor (and we) would like to make as many of my dad’s dying wishes come true, particularly since most of them are very service oriented. He seems to have developed a powerful intuitive ability to know just who needs to hear what right now, and this brings him tremendous joy.

He’s completely at peace with his situation, but he would love to spend some time in my parents’ new house. This means we are pushing up the original move date, and I will remain in PA to help coordinate a sooner rather than later move. As “official decorator” of their new home, I will also stay long enough to get them settled. My brother and I got to tour the 55+ community my 70+ year old parents are moving to, and we’re both so relieved my mom will have such friendly, warm and involved people around her. The new house has huge windows and a gas fireplace — both things my mom loves and finds deeply nurturing. The fingerprints of the Divine cover this entire process, and more so than sadness (although that’s there, too), I feel overwhelmed with tears of gratitude. It’s seriously enough to burst my heart multiple times per day.

We have all three of my dad’s brothers and their wives arriving tonight/this weekend, David arriving Saturday or Sunday (pending weather), and many, many, many meetings this week in order to arrange both my dad’s transition into the old home with proper care, as well as all the logistics about purchasing this new house. Signing occurs on the 9th, and then I will need to arrange movers to pack and unpack belongings, plus, assuming my dad’s still with us, how to get him from one place to the other. As the child with the most flexibility of schedule, responsibility for most of this next phase falls to me.

My brother and sister have both been amazing in their own efforts, but we need to protect them from burnout. I know all about burnout from watching what David has gone through caring for his own parents, and I will not put my siblings through that. We are each taking turns, selecting our own special skill sets to determine who does what. With me having moved … ohhhh, 42 times … I’m the mover/decorator. With me having helped so many people transition to the Otherside, I’m also the walker between worlds and the appropriate one to shoulder much of this time for people. My sister’s local, and my brother will return again as his job permits. He’s already almost out of vacation days!

In terms of timing, my dad has anywhere between weeks to up to six months. I have him reading Dr. Bruce Lipton’s “The Biology of Belief,” which he finds very interesting. My dad has an extremely powerful mind and is very, very receptive to miracles. He reminds everyone how open he is to “Miracle Number 13,” but he also knows he has led a full life and feels the full extent of our love for him.

I’m off to the first of three meetings and many phone calls today. Those of you awaiting reschedules, thanks for your patience. I should have a much better idea next week. We just need to get these logistics in place for my dad to be able to come home.

Much love and gratitude,

Laura