After Three Years--My Brother Is Still Alive!

About ten years ago, I heard about a Catholic nun who traveled around the world. No big deal--until I learned she had no money in her pocket! Also, she never planned her destination, but philanthropists and all kinds of good people entered her life and she always arrived where she was suppose to! Amazing, huh? I don't know about other religions, but Catholics refer to this joyful way of life as "living in the Spirit." Essentially, the Holy Spirit guides their "travels on earth."

After many (too many) years of trying to be in control of my life, I was very weary, tired and depressed. When I heard about this nun (who is STILL out there somewhere in the world), I decided I wanted to live my life as much as I could in this "spirited" way. Fortunately, I had always liked spontaneity in my life. Over the course of these last ten years, I must say that more times than not, when I'm "in the spirit," I live the most blissful lifestyle.

This past weekend serves as only one example. I had heard about the Monroe (CT) Congregational Church's 35th Annual Strawberry Festival. It was six days before the event, and I decided to call the chairperson in charge and see if I could squeeze in as a new author with a book (Consummate Connecticut: Day Trips with Panache) to sell. When Barbara the chairperson told me there was one space left, I said, "Well, it's waiting for me."

Although the booth's rental was nearly three times more than I usually pay, I knew ("life in the spirit") my name was on that booth! Besides selling a good amount of books, a lot of amazing things happened that weekend. First, I should say, that Saturday morning, upon arrival things seemed dismal. Unexpectedly, it drizzled. Naturally, I was the only "vendor" without cover, but I managed to secure my books under the table and the tree canopy above protected me from getting wet. Was someone taking care of me, or what? I also started to feel sad. No traffic. No sales. Then I remembered that I had to expect miracles! And although things didn't appear to change, my thinking changed. To make a looong story short, during the afternoon, as sales did pick up and I did meet some lovely vendors, I was moved forward to a space that was unoccupied. The chairwoman thought it would provide more traffic because it was near the information booth. Why not?

Now, as a side note, my brother Mike, who died three years ago, had been on my mind during the week. I never freak out about his being dead, because I feel he really is "alive." Anyway, back to the story. I was sitting there and my eye caught something behind me on the adjacent vendor's booth. It was a black basketball cap with "Vietnam" printed on the front. It was the identical one that my brother Mike had had. Naturally, I went to talk to this man who was selling his beautifully framed photographs. Indeed, he was a Vietnam veteran--a radio man from Wallingford--my brother was from Fairfield...no connection there, but as we continued talking we realized that the same time Jim was in 'Nam so was my brother Mike. My imagination told me that they could have passed each other! Now, out of more than 100 vendors, I find Jim. Virtually days before he died, my book was suppose to be published, but everything fell through. The day my brother Mike died, he e-mailed me that it was okay, because one day I would publish another book. I just knew that Jim was a sign that my brother knows that I did publish my book after all and that he is proud of me (as he always was--for a brother nearly 13 years older than me!).

Jim reconfirmed what I have known all along. My brother is alive! ALIVE! The spirit that he could never convey on earth, because of an unhealthy lifestyle, has been released as my sister-in-law once said shortly after his death; and I am fortunate to still be on earth living in the spirit.

Whether you are Catholic, Protestant or whatever faith you follow, I hope you too are blessed to live without destination in mind, but always arriving in a serendipitous place!