GBE2-Lost And Found: Help From The Other Side

Some folks may not believe in the After Life, but frankly, I don't care. All one can do is share what has happened to them and let others accept or deny. It's up to the individual.... So read on and take this as you want.....

It's been many years since my great uncle died. I wasn't married yet and had come home from college for a brief visit, mostly to help out my great aunt and my parents. There weren't many family members left on my mother's side, so this was particularly hard for her.

What was adding to the difficulty was that my 89 year old great uncle had died before telling anyone where his life insurance policy paperwork was.  The man didn't believe in banks or bank deposit boxes and the majority of his estate was in that insurance policy. 

By the time I'd arrived home from college, my parents had stepped in and paid for the funeral and Uncle Charlie was buried. But things were still not settled. My mother's aunt, (my great aunt Harriet) was in a panic. She had been going through every room in her house searching for the paperwork for the Life Insurance Policy.  Granted, the house was paid for, but Aunt Harriet's future income depended on the insurance because Uncle Charlie's pension was being cut off and  Social Security payments were a joke.

As I walked into my great aunt and uncle's home, I was overwhelmed with the unsettled disarray throughout the place.  My mother and Aunt Harriet were upstairs going through drawers and files in Uncle Charlie's office which was next to the master bedroom.  The room was turned topsy turvy, papers stacked side by side in rows which at least allowed for people to walk through. They'd gone through the bedroom and guest room too.

Wading over piles and stacks of books, files, and papers I headed to their bedroom. I looked up at a large gold framed photo of my great aunt and uncle that was taken when they were very young and very happy. The photo was black and white, but she was wearing a long light shimmery dress which matched her blonde hair, and he wore what was considered a "summer suit" back then. 

There was so much chaos happening (both physically and emotionally) that after a half hearted offer from me to help was declined, I very happily made my escape.

Since I had only arrived home that day after an 8 hour flight from the East Coast, I was exhausted and sank thankfully into my childhood bed as soon as I got home. As I slipped into sleep I sent out a thought into the universe to my Uncle Charlie, " Please show them where the papers are...Please?"

My sleep was long and hard, and when I groggily stumbled out of bed the next day, there was a vague memory of having Uncle Charlie in my dreams.  The clock on the night stand said it was almost noon!

I called out while tumbling down the stairs to the kitchen, "Mother!.... Mother?"

She smiled up at me, pouring a cup of coffee. 

"Mother! I know I dreamed of Uncle Charlie but I can't remember it!"

"I thought so. And since he couldn't get through to you, He came to me instead."

My mother continued smiling but looked down at her coffee cup.  This was something we never openly discussed, but was something we quietly shared together. I clamped my lips together and waited for her to continue.

"Uncle Charlie solved the mystery and told us where to find the life insurance policy." Mother's gray eyes sparkled.  I knew from my gut what she was going to say next.  "I ran over to Aunt Harriet's house first thing this morning and sure enough, it was taped to the back of the big photo of them with gold frame, just as he described."

I let out a big sigh and nodded.  There was no reason to say anything more.

EXPECTATIONS and CELEBRATIONS - MAY 23-28, 2011

Every Morning!  My life is filled with "expectations".....from dozens of four footed members of our "family"....oh, and from a two footed one.  Shall I give you an example?

It's Monday and the alarm clock goes off at 6 a.m.  (My clock's expectation is to have its head smashed in.)  And since it's a school day, my 8th grader shrinks under her covers in the expectation of my "cheerful" warning of, "First Call!".....knowing that at 6:10, she'd better get serious about getting up and dressed for the 6:30 a.m. school bus.

Once the school bus is gone, the expectations begin from our four footed friends........ (How do they know???)

Ella, our miniature donkey begins to bray.

Escapade and El Dorado, two of our stallions pound at the metal paneled gate that separates them (just outside of our bedroom window).

Larry pours himself a cup of coffee, and there's Taffy, our 26 year old Shetland,  spying at him from her paddock which happens to have a perfect view right into our kitchen. He pretends not to see her, but she nickers in expectation.  She knows what buttons to push.

The moment I begin pouring grain into the feed bucket, I hear the rustle of expectation (and impatience) coming from the group of mares and foals outside the barn door.  It's hard not to look because I know I'll see a half dozen furry little noses poking up and over the sliding gate.

By 11:00 a.m. the barn chores are done. I head for the house with five dogs and four cats racing to the back door ahead of me in expectation.  They all know that now it's THEIR turn to be fed.  Each one of them tells me how excited they are for their favorite time of the day.

Every day it's Expectations and a Celebration.