Sisters on the Island

I'm back.  We're back. We're all safe and sound.  I got home last night with our nephew.  He was going to pick up some applications here and head home. Instead we got a snow storm. It has been snowing since about 9:30 this morning.  Our nephew was going to try to beat the storm, but slid at the bottom of our hill, and so he came back and will wait out the storm with me.  Now we're at 8 or 9 inches, the temp is dropping and the wind is going to blow all night long.

My youngest is in Florida with her baby. 

The beach was wonderful. Thank you so much for your  gracious, flowing generosity.  You make generosity look simple.  The house was comfortable and easy to be in.  The island is healing.

And the dolphins. They brought such emotion.  I didn't realize I believed we had killed or imprisoned  them all.

The island was good sister time.  We were able to talk and sing and listen and be available for each other. We were able to walk and bask.  Igot some color on my pasty-northern winter-weary face.  We were not able to find an alligator or pirate ghosts - but it was fun looking.  And belly-laughing Ping-Pong...I needed to laugh.

What a gift it was...thank you so much for thinking of it, and for making it possible.

One amazing moment was our joined voices, singing Dona Nobis Pacem to the ocean. I felt joined.  I felt joined -with everything.

I haven't had time off like that for years.  It was such a gift. I felt so old and tired when we arrived. By the second day, though, I started to see me...a little.  I thought about abundance and adventure. The ocean is a source of abundance and instructed me a little, I think.

The other gift my sister gave was a joint session with the oft-mentioned Reiki healer.  We weren't sure what we wanted, but somehow we ended up with a joint read about our connections through time and through different lifetimes. For all three of us.

I am analytical, and apparently I have always been analytical.  I shed a few tears while alone, partly from relief - this is who I am and who I am supposed to be.  But partly from loneliness.  I often have the feeling that I don't quite belong.  And it's kind of true, but not exactly...it's partly from our upbringing, but also a facet of what I am.

The strongest thing I walked away with, though, was her answer to the questions - Why are we here?

Forgiveness.

S#3 asked, "For ourselves or for others."

"For yourself first."

That is so difficult.  I didn't sleep well last night. I was wound up from all of our adventures, I think.  And so I tried to consider forgiveness.  Forgiving myself.  I started listing things I need to forgive myself for.  There are lots of things.

When you see your friend again, please tell her I said thank you - for the gifts, both physical and spiritual.  And thank you for your generosity, for sharing this part of your life with us.

Exhausted, full of love and gratitude...

Clare