This weeks blog is a very dear topic to my heart. In my upcoming book I dedicate a couple of different chapters to this subject. You cannot experience the death of a loved one or even the Christmas season without addressing the topic of Angels. I would like to share with you a couple of special experiences that have happened in regard to Kory. This will be a readers digest version, the whole story will be contained in my book.
That wonderful season is upon us again and it is a favorite time for me because I love Christmas stories. Unfortunately, Christmas is also painful for us as to have Kory die at Christmas. It seems strange that several years before Kory’s death I felt very inspired to write a Christmas story for my family and give it as my gift that year. It was accompanied by a teddy bear. I bought dozens of teddy bears, big ones and little ones, to go with my story. The symbol of the teddy bear , represented a hug from our Father in Heaven while we were here on the earth in this life. I gave the story and a teddy bear to family and friends and co-workers. Anyone I came in contact with that I felt would benefit from my story. I wanted to share this story with you. The story is about dealing with loss at Christmas. I did not realize that I was writing it for me. It is funny how things work out that way. I just knew that I needed to write this story and it would help others deal with death and know that they have a loving Father in Heaven that loves them. The story is written from my perspective as a little girl. My father died in a similar manner when I was a little girl. I hope that this story will give you a warm place in your heart for that is its intention.
This story is included in an appendix in my book coming out in 2012. It was refered to in a newspaper article.
Here is my Story: click on the link below
Teddy Bears from the Kingdom of Light
I hope you have a wonderful week and go hug a teddy bear!
A Time to Die
I am sorry that I missed last week. I was out of town for the holiday. During this holiday adventure, this week’s blog post emerged. It was not by normal means but in an event that if you recognize the small and simple things that help us each day, it is in the realms of miracles. This is what happened…
After driving to the coast to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with my husband’s family we headed back home late Saturday night. Our youngest son Kris had flown out of the Raleigh/Durham airport at 6:50 that night so we dropped him off around 5. We had decided to just head home and drive straight thorough and arrive home in the early morning hours on Sunday. That way we would miss most of the holiday traffic.
Through my very painful experience of losing my son Kory, I gained valuable insight to a difficult problem. What do you say to someone that has just experienced the most difficult of life’s experiences, the death of a loved one. It is a tricky tightrope to walk. We do not want to cause them additional pain, and we also want them to know that we care about them and are feeling loss also. So how do we do that? Is it better to remain silent and say nothing at all? If we decide to talk to the grieving individuals, we wonder if we should mention the deceased person, or pretend that nothing happened. There are many conflicting emotions at such a time as this. After being in the unenviable position I was in at Kory’s death let me share what really meant a lot to me and my family and what helped and what did not.
We are on the verge of a very wonderful time of year but also very stressful. It is especially hard on those of us that are dealing with the loss of a loved one. Because Kory died at Christmas I had to learn to deal with death and the holidays very quickly. I have learned some things that have really helped me to get through some of the tough times.
We can not change the fact that our loved one has died and that it is now holiday time. It is funny because I remember years ago my Grandmother Ellis (who is the most admired woman in my life) had to deal with the death of many loved one’s around Christmas.
Now that the holiday that celebrates the “world of the dead” has come and gone it brings me to this week’s discussion. Are spirits real? And can we communicate with them? Oh yes my friend, they are real, very real. Should we be frightened of them? no, of course not. They cannot hurt you. We only fear the things we cannot understand. We fear the dark because we cannot see in the dark. But once the light is turned on most of the fears we have, vanish. That is the way with understanding spirits, the dead, and their role in our lives. The more we understand, the less we fear. I do not say that I have no fears. Nothing is worse than the anticipated fright while watching a scary movie or having someone jump out and surprise you, but that is all. So in retrospect, I would like to address the subject of communicating with the departed.
I decided to give you one last glimpse of a chapter in my upcoming book. It was very appropriate as it was all about Halloween and my feelings and experiences on the matter and dealing with Kory’s death. Yesterday I was out looking for a Halloween costume and was still shocked at the portrayal of Halloween. Gone are the days of funny plastic costumes and plastic superman or princess masks that came in an awesome box. I had a very hard time trying to find a modest adult costume. That is sad. All the costumes were so dark or I would be dressed as someone’s who profession is not in my lifestyle.
I hope that you enjoy this chapter and have a fun safe holiday.
As the leaves turn brilliant colors and the weather is perfect in Alabama in the month of October, we see signs of the upcoming holidays. One of my favorite holidays, is Halloween. It is a strange holiday here in the south. Many shun it and say that it is the devils holiday. Well if you research the origin of Halloween, you see that it is actually a religious holiday. I have been bothered by the public view of spiritual matters. We rush to see scary movies and haunted houses and spooky things. I love to go to them too! Cemeteries take on particular interest but for the wrong reason. The world view the dead as scary and skeletons and corpses. This perception always saddens me. If anyone has a connection with the spirit world it is assumed to be dark and haunting. The actual experiences are closer to the feelings that we experience at Christmas time. It is peaceful and happy and filled with light.
My Library (in part)
Today I wanted to give you some information that took me years to collect. It is some of my favorite books that I have used in my research about death and the Spirit world. I have read everything I could find since I was 16 years old. Some I loved and re-read and kept for my library, some I read and gave away, some were library books. One thing that I have found is I love my faith! The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has the most complete and plentiful information in regard to this subject anywhere in the world.
I would like to address the most difficult part of dealing with the death of a loved one, grief. It is a very strange animal. Like I said in last weeks post; grief is an expression of love. The more we loved that person the more we greave.
I remember years ago a dear friend lost her little baby boy when he was several months old. She had lost other children during pregnancy and this little boy was a miracle and a surprise. Unfortunately he had a heart condition and he died after surgery. After he died I started to have the strangest feeling of incredible grief every time I drove near her house. I had never felt such grief before. It was like driving into a cloud. I felt it come and I felt it go as I drove past the area. I thought it was so strange. I know I was feeling her grief. I have felt empathy for others in their losses but not like I had during that time. I believe grief is almost tangible, and we can experience others grief. Even though I had this experience and because of my fathers death I researched all I could on death, nothing could prepare me for the grief I would experience after Kory’s death.