Hello Dear Heart,
Like my morning walk, this Sweet Reminder meanders in a way that might only make sense to me. Isn’t that often the way of things?
For no reason at all, some days just feel a little more special. Yesterday was like that for me. The air seemed to touch me with gentleness. My heart’s smile was so vibrant I think it must have been illuminating my face with a light that reached out to everyone I crossed paths.
The world felt right. With all the uncertainty. With all the challenges. With all the griefs. I felt the mysteriously rightness about it all.
And that surprised me. December 5th. Eleven years since Gary, my brother, left his body.
I’m used to the day bringing a rainbow of emotions, often tinted with sorrow. But today there was just sweet memories and imagination.
I wasn’t the first one on the beach. My footprints intertwined with the the coming and goings of other morning beach walkers. I imagined one set of those footprints belonged to Gary, as if my brother was walking right alongside me.
He was astonished by the tangerine streaked sky. He smiled at the morning moon still hanging in the sky. I could hear his laughter when a wave caught us off guard.
A story I’d heard long ago came to mind. You might know it too. As the story goes, in a dream there are footprints along the beach. Most of the time there are two sets of prints, but every now and then one set of prints disappears. The dreamer, who realizes one set of prints is their own and the other set belongs to their spiritual master, wants to know why, when the going got tough, he/she had to walk alone. “Ohhh”, the spiritual master said, “You were never alone. When there was only one set of footprints, those were the times I carried you.”
Seeing my sandy path mingled with the footprints of others I reflected on how we carry, and are carried by, each other; most often, not even realizing it.
Today, for no reason and for every reason, it was a special day.
Loving you from here,
Sharon
