You can take this #crossbyte in a couple of different ways. First, I do believe in life after death. I remember when my mother died, I received all kinds of signs which showed me that she was going to be okay. I won't go into all of them, but I will give you a couple. Once, after my mom died when I felt especially depressed, I was driving my car listening to my rock music at several decibels. The song playing was Angel by Aerosmith. Suddenly, my seat belt buzzer indicating that someone was in the seat beside me went off. The thing is, no one was there. You can call that coincidence if you want to, but I don't. I welcomed my mom but told her she didn't really have to buckle her seatbelt.
At another time, not long after she died, I had a dream about my mom. We were having a family get-together and she was doing all the preparations like my mom always did when the family got together, and I was watching her. Then I remembered that she had died, and I said, "Mom, I thought you were dead." She replied, "Not really."
Occasionally, I still get little signs. I enjoy spending time on my back deck watching and listening to the birds. A Cardinal appeared at our bird feeder, and I remembered the old saying that a Cardinal's presence means someone from heaven is close by. At first, I said, "Hi, mom," when I saw it. Then, I remembered that my mom's favorite bird was a mockingbird. As I said, "Now, if you were a mockingbird, I'd really be impressed." At that precise moment, a mockingbird flew to our bird feeder.
While I've never seen my mom's ghost or any other ghost for that matter, I do get little reminders like those often. On the same day as the mockingbird there were two other signs, but I will save those for another day.
I do want to add one more way that you can look at the #crossbyte above. How many times have you come across an "end" in your life? Maybe, a job or a relationship ended. Maybe, like in my case, someone you know and loved died. Sometimes these moments seem like an end, and even though they are, they don't have to be "the" end.
I retired from teaching -- the one thing I had known for over 30 years. It was the end of a career, one that could not have been any more fulfilling. However, I knew that it was the end. I'd begun to fall behind the technology, and all the red tape and bureaucratic bull just made it no longer enjoyable. It wasn't my students at all. I knew that the end of my teaching career had come, but the news that we were going to get our first grandchild made me realize that another journey was about to begin.
The end of my teaching career was not "the end." (I do have to confess though that I have not left teaching entirely. I still teach a few classes for Three Rivers Community College.) Sometimes, when the pavement runs out, there's a nice trail to walk. I became a grandfather, and believe me when I say that journey is just beginning. I have had time to write. In the last year, I have had more publications and made more money than I have in any five or ten years of writing than I ever had before. I used to say that I'd never make enough money as a writer to quit my day job, but now that I have retired from my day job, I'm enjoying the writing journey. (I still don't make very much money, but that's now why I write)I don't know where this journey will take me, but I know there will come a time when I realize I should stop.
I think that when the path to this life ends that I'll just be walking a different one that I've never walked before.
Think about the times when something "ended" for you. Was it really the ending? Or was it the start of a different walk down a different path? Endings hurt a lot, especially when we don't remember that one thing has to end before something else begins. Not all the endings we experience are pleasant; most are not at first, some never. But think about all of the wonderful new beginnings you have had, beginnings which would not have happened if there had not been an ending.
When the road you are traveling ends, keep on walking. There's another path out there just waiting for the right feet -- your feet.
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