STORIES
 
Please submit your stories on our topic!

Story #1

I have a girlfriend who I grew up with. She and I have always been very close and share most of the same values and morals. Three years ago, she met a wonderful man, quite self-sufficient, proud, handsome and very kind. On their second date he told her that he had a genetic disease and probably wouldn't live for even another 5 years. His zest for life intrigued her, and even though she knew that he wasn't going to live long, she fell deeply in love with him. They married 6 months later and almost a year to the day after they married they had a son. I was her maid of honor at their wedding as well as the little boy's God mother. Her husband died 3 months after the baby was born. The reason I'm explaining all of this is because what she wanted more than anything, out of the deep love and commitment she had for him, she wanted to make what he had left of his life joyous. And that she did. Because of his financial independence, they were able to travel to places they always wanted to go. He went bungee jumping with her, skydiving and even learned to play guitar. She was his rock and always made a point of making sure he did do all the things that he had wanted to do, but didn't have anyone before he met her, to do those things with or to to have someone like her encourage him to do what he always wanted to do, or try to learn. If I could give someone the happiest years that they had left, it would make me believe even more strongly that we are put on this earth for a reason. I am so proud of what she did for him, I know I would be proud to be able to do the same. ~Anonymous

Story #2

On losing a mother and a pet:

"Over a year ago we moved to FL to be near my Mom. I thought we had at least a few years together. In six months she was gone. Our dog Benjamin, who has been our constant companion, healthy and full of life, I thought we had at least 7 more years together. In a blink of an eye he too has passed.
 
Today, I'm feeling a reminder for self to love and live NOW. Love the people in your life, show them how much you love them, how happy they make you feel to be in your life. We are here on this physical plane to experience joy, love and happiness and in those feelings, because we have loved, because we are loved we will feel loss, pain and sadness. I know I have loved, I know I have been loved. Share your love, your happiness your joy." ~Lori King

Story #3

Here are some beautiful and profound words by friend and poet Lecco Morris that helped us get through Corona Virus:
 
"I recently learned several horrible realities that hit very close to home about this virus. It brought me to a dark place.
 
Then, while I was trying to focus on a particularly melodic, triumphant birdsong outside, I had this sublime series of thoughts — almost a daydream, a shaft of light through the unlikeliest crevice.
 
At some unknown point in the future, this pandemic will be behind us. That is a fact.
 
And when that happens: can you imagine the feeling behind a hug, held much longer than normal? The sensation of a kiss? The soul satisfaction of a stingingly perfect high-five? The solidarity behind a large group of people, convened in reverence?
 
Gratitude and appreciation will bloom so deeply after all this — we will as a species never have known such love. We will be released from our shackles and will rub one another’s wrists with more care than we’ve ever known.
 
Throughout this hellscape — what is coming at the end of it is a love for one another that will transcend all the pain, austerity, uncertainty, disruption and death that preceded it.
 
Wow. Thank you, bird."  ~Lecco Morris, March 2020

Story #4

Dear Person who wants to understand
what True Love is:

          "Relationships have never been easy for me, and are not for most people. The belief of ‘I’m not-enough’ due to unachievable societal standards and fear of abandonment has taken years for me to process, and still pops up on occasion. And this is okay. Because our souls are stronger than this.
          For a very long time I thought I’d never find true love. I allowed my heart to be shattered, beaten, bruised, and left on the side of the road. And it was when I felt the most hopeless and afraid that I learned the most important lesson of my life thus far: The love I was looking for in another person was inside myself all along. The love YOU are looking for is INSIDE YOU already. What it really comes down to is questioning our conditioning and healing ourselves first. Am I being integral to myself? In my choice of education, occupation, leisure, friends/family, and behavior? What are my emotions and bodily reactions telling me about me? Am I in the right environment and surrounded by the right support systems to make that change? Then by having faith and being brave, you’ll attract the energy you put out.
          Without even knowing it, you’ll find your best friend sipping coffee in a corner booth and you’ll lose track of time. You’ll be shocked by how well you’re treated, by how many jinx’s you have in one conversation, by how good it feels to be sitting next to someone who shares your energy, and this time and space with you…because they want to. Completely free. Where there are no questions that can’t be answered, no fear of tomorrow, and everything to be excited for. Where the laughs are all from the diaphragm, and you’re suddenly happy crying so frequently. The big sads are consoled with a hug and deep listening, and the growth is utterly continuous. You start to understand what life is about. True love is the core of who we are, and the composition of which everything is made. It’s the universe in your heart, the galaxy in another’s eyes, and a gratitude that doesn’t fade. But is cultivated in you. So start planting your garden.
          Happy Valentine’s Day!" ~ Kelsey Marlowe Jessup, Feb. 14, 2023

Story #5

There is something IRREVOCABLY SACRED in the soft, fine, aged lines of the OLD… as if a CONSTANT PRAYER AUDIBLE only to the heart… a benevolence of unfolded truth, tenderness, forgiveness, acceptance of which one unknowingly mirrors as pealing away fear...sorrow.. ..or just modern-day conditions of a very fast life……. .. but above all as if one is being enveloped by this deepest content… of gladness, belonging, fragile delight!! :)
 
Opening up to such truth.. is nothing short of a cell deep soul renewing.. Whatever precious value you may find in the "past" and how far you are willing to go.. but take some steps.. on memory lane.. … whatever "old" may mean to you.. (could be just days old kisses.. decade old photos.. some ancient item like this 3000 years old Greek blown-glass perfume bottle I am looking at as I type.. …..Some family artifact.. or a tree a forefather may planted.. the very land you played your heart out as a kid with siblings.. some palpable longing you carry in your gene-pole and bones but cant really describe.. .. or how roaming this tiny little blue planet-home feels for my traveler friends :)…).

Well, pain and joy is a sacred bond on its own.. yours or not.. and courageous facing, luminous love releases part of the pain leaving us renewing energy… awesome contentment.... but even beyond that; its a strength that allows us to own it up all! That's the place I think from where deep love and beauty unfolds.. blooms.. spreads through the fine vessels.. of organic and man-made cellular networks.. I pray that - lays just under our vulnerable collective pulse - we never loose how this yet unbreached deep, sacred connection feels. Makes even a hello feel knowing, subtle and passionate… Lets put it into a smile.. a hug.. into extra cheer.. How crucial it is to live in the now.. yet the now gets its strength from our brave past. …hmmm.. can be as old as five minutes ago when I decided to share… :) …my hello!!! ~ Eva E.