So I'm not normally one of those woo-woo people who talks about ghosts or anything, and this post is not a joke with the Halloween season upon us. I've had a couple strangely comforting experiences in the past couple days, and another that has spanned the past couple months. I wanted to share them with you, just because, well...just because.
The first involves my nephew Alex, who passed away suddenly in November 1994 from a virulent strain of menningitis. He was just 5 1/2 years old. I can't believe it'll be 14 years that he's been gone. He was a funny little guy, with some funny little quirks (for example, he liked to collect those little hangers that socks come on, and he liked to save the feeder strips that used to feed paper through computer printers...remember those?). He was a very sensitive little guy. I think about Alex almost every day, and some days when Thomas says something wildly entertaining I think of how much he would have loved his uncle. I think Thomas and Alex would have gotten along famously, since Thomas is WAY quirky and has funny little rituals, too.
When Alex died, we released a huge bouquet of red balloons after his funeral. It was kind of a gray day, from what I remember, and the sight of those red balloons sailing against a cloudy sky still sticks in my memory. Every year on his birthday, Trish and her girls release balloons into the sky as a way to remember him. In the past year I've had a few "red balloon" experiences...sometimes I've been thinking of Alex...sometimes they've happened just when I've been having a rough time and need a gentle reminder that things will change for the better. One day I was really missing Alex, Thomas was throwing a tantrum in the car, and I just said to myself, "gosh...how will I get through this day?" I just happened to look up, and there, floating just over my house as I pulled into the driveway, was a red balloon, dancing in the wind and sailing up toward the mountain.
Weird. But the day did seem to get better and we all got through it.
A few weeks later, I was having a similar day (I seem to be having these days a lot with the studio getting busier and trying to juggle multiple responsibilities). On this particular day, I was talking to Alex and telling him I missed him. A little while later I went to take the trash out and there, sitting smack dab in the middle of the yard (in a breeze, though it didn't move at all), was a red balloon.
Weirder still. But I did get through that day as well.
The following day, I'd had a very trying morning. I won't go into details, but let's just say I was just about to throw in the towel, sell all my equipment, and move to a secluded island...ALONE. I walked into the yard to get a little break and looked at my fence. There was a strip of red there...wasn't there earlier in the day. So I walked over to it...it was a broken balloon. Huh, I thought....how apprpopriate is THIS?! Then I picked it up, turned it over, and there was a face drawn on the balloon...a funny face with a tongue sticking out, as if to give a red-balloon raspberry ***pfffbbbtttffftt***. HA!
This morning I was going through our workroom (aptly named...there's so much junk in there that even walking into the room is considered work). I was looking for some bolts that go to Thomas's crib, as we're loaning it to a friend whose baby is due in another month. I found an old answering machine that I haven't gotten around to throwing away. So I plugged it in. BEEP. You have no new messages. BEEP. You have two saved messages. The first was from Dorothy Ogg...our old neighbor who passed away a couple years ago. She was thanking us for our Christmas card and said she was always tickled to hear from us. The next message was (sigh) from Barry. Calling on Christmas Eve 2006 to wish Madelyn a Merry Christmas Eve. He said he'd try to call the next day to wish us a Merry Christmas Day (which he did).
Ghosts? Communications from the other side? Coincidences? ( you can say so but I don't think so). I'm strangely comforted to be looked over, and after.
Off to do a family photo shoot. Probably the last day we'll have fantastic leaves and sun. I'll be shooting performance photos of the Jesus Christ Superstar show the next few nights at MCT. Look for the post on my blog.
Have a good Sunday! Know that even as we remember, we are likely similarly remembered. Peace to all.
So I haven't mentioned it here, but I have been sick as a dog (well, actually the DOG is quite well, as you'll see below) this past week. Sinus infection and bronchitis...it's been MISERABLE. Today I felt marginally better, Andy went to a friend's house to watch the Steelers lose (bummer), and Madelyn was running spotlight at Jesus Christ Superstar, so it was just me and the little man chillin' out. We went outside and raked up leaves. Our neighbor, Pat, raked a pile at least six feet high and we spent the better part of an hour tossing Thomas into the pile. I think it was fun for Pat to play with Thomas, but also hard to be reminded of his son 14 year old , Colin, who died two years ago this month after he was hit by a car three blocks from our house. Thomas was so thrilled with playing with Pat that he squealed for the entire time and then drew Pat a thank you picture and shoved it in his mailbox. This was a first...Thomas doesn't often spontaneously draw pictures, let alone FOR people, so this was truly a little gift from the little guy. There's just something about Thomas that makes people feel better just being around him.
Later in the day we raked up the leaves in our yard and Thomas suddenly donned his knight costume (a pass-over from Trish, from Alex), and was hacking away at the leaves. All afternoon long he would tell me "Fare thee well, maiden". It was adorable. We let Buzzy join in the fun with her new tennis ball, acquired after yet another adventure to the park (this time she jumped the fence and I was greeted by a phone call at 9:15 am saying, "uh...we're at the park...and your dog is here..."). So what else is new? I finally got her to sit still for a couple shots, only by balancing the tennis ball on the top of my camera lens so she'd look at me.
Being goofy.
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