Uriel~ The Dove of Light

Last Sunday night I was looking through ads on Craig's List and felt drawn to look at animals up for adoption. God knows I love animals of all kinds, but am not ready to invite another little dog into my home as I am still currently residing in an apartment and the dream home I plan to acquire is not til a wee bit later this year! =)

But I came across an ad for a beautiful baby Ringneck Dove hatched about 5 weeks ago and the breeder wanted a small "rehoming fee"  I had always wanted to share my life with a dove as they are such sweet, gentle, and well, stereotypically speaking...peaceful little beings! Then my "rational" mind said "sleep on it" so I did and thought the little baby bird would surely still be available tomorrow if he/she was meant to share my home with me. 

On Monday morning which happened to be Memorial Day, at about 11:30AM I logged back onto the internet and again studied the ad for the precious dove. I decided to send a text message to the breeder as they stated to do so in their ad. About 15 minutes later, I received a return text message stating the bird was still available! My heart danced in my chest! I then proceeded to text back to the breeder that I wanted the bird and would it be alright to come over and pick him up about 3PM that day? (of course, this was fine with them!) I then realized I had about 2 1/2 hours to find a nice sturdy cage home, "Dove" food, and accessories for this little being! I looked on Craig's List again and saw an ad (without a photo) for a birdcage for $30 complete with toys, perches and a stand. It was even LOCAL to my home which was a plus with gas at $4 a gallon! I texted the folks with the cage and also another person with a cage for sale in the area. Little did I know, that I had actually confused my text messages with both of the 2 cage sellers and had actually driven out to see what I thought was the seller with the cage with a stand~and it was the wrong seller! I looked at my watch and saw that it was now 1:30PM! I now had about an hour and a half tops to acquire a cage home, dove food, and then drive over to pick up my new feathered friend! I just continued to trust that all was well and that it would work out... I texted the seller with the cage with the stand and apologized for the mix-up as it was now 1:30PM and I had previously arranged to meet this person at 1PM. (Of course, it was fine to still come and see the cage!).

 So I headed over to see the lovely birdhome with a stand and all and of course it was just perfect! I thanked the lady and made my purchase. At 2PM I still had to get some dove food before picking up my feathered baby. I went to my local pet supply store in hopes of finding food specific to doves (as doves do not hull their seeds but rather swallow them whole~which makes for a tidier bird than the average sloppy parakeet! )Yes, they had "Dove food!" The pet supply store  had a small cage (on SALE even!) that I also bought to safely transport my little bird home in. It was getting closer and closer to 3PM as I then drove in the direction of the town with my little dove. I had time to stop in the local Meijer store and pick up some sweet potatoes (I learned doves enjoy cooled mashed sweet potatoes as a treat and of course I wanted to spoil my little darling!)then I was on my way... I turned in to the neighborhood and quickly realized I was lost in the subdivision! Just as I was texting the breeder, she called me and I looked up to the left and knew it was her! I was actually "lost" in front of her house! I parked my car, greeted Carrie and asked her how she got into doves. She said "My Mom has always been into birds." That's interesting, I thought to myself... so did MY Mom!...I then "met the parents"... the parents of my little dove! They were doting and beautiful! I had also come to learn that both dove parents share equally in child-rearing  including feeding and perching atop the unborn eggs and they mate for life! "More to love about doves!"

 I slowly approached the cage and allowed the baby to step onto my finger. I was amazed at how very innately tame and gentle these birds truly are! I held him to my chest and spoke softly to him "you're going to come home with me." I chatted a bit with Carrie and placed my little guy into his traveling cage and drove home. Yes, it was all "meant to be" and orchestrated so perfectly! I also realized in an "a-ha" moment that it was in fact, "Memorial Day"... that my Mom who had transitioned in 1993 always loved birds and AGAIN this was yet another gift from her!

At the Flea Market

It was a muggy grey Saturday morning at the local flea market as the sun boldly dared to reveal itself behind the looming clouds. My friend Crissy and I had rented four car parking lot spaces for the day. Crissy was joyfully giving her oracle card readings as "the Good News Psychic" and I was liquidating my vast wardrobe of nursing scrubs. 

I was enjoying people-watching and eating my apple for lunch when something that appeared to be a floating piece of debris floated into the air in my direction and proceeded to choose  landing on top of my right shoulder! Ewww, was my first reaction! But as I peered down toward my shoulder I grasped the "debris" with my left hand and lifted it off  my shoulder bringing it closer to view... I looked more intently at it and saw that it was soft, fuzzy, and light grey colored. Why, it was a FEATHER! It was a teeny tiny baby BIRD feather! It couldn't have been bigger than 1/2 of an inch long! 

Then I began to think, wait a minute! there are absolutely NO trees in the vicinity! I am sitting in a portable green camper's chair in the middle of a large black tarred parking lot amidst a sea of people at a busy intersection bordering the cities of Waterford and Pontiac, Michigan! There was no evidence of Nature anywhere to be found other than this tiny feather that just "happened" to make its way on top of my right shoulder! And again, I realized this was another gift from Mom! She even placed the little feather on top of my right shoulder so that I would know without a doubt it was from her! I had been recovering from some serious injuries sustained from a fall I had a little over a year ago and my right shoulder had been one of my injured areas. 

A few weeks ago, I had received some Reconnective Healing sessions and during my second session,  my Mom made it known that she was there as I had felt the gentle pressure of a hand placed onto my right shoulder while at the same time, I whiffed the scent of  freshly baked banana bread permeating the practitioner's entire house! For folks who don't know; with Reconnective Healing, the practitioner NEVER touches the "patient" lying on the table and when the session was over, I looked the practitioner squarely in the eye and asked her if she had been baking banana bread in her house. (Of course, the answer was no!) My Mom  always  baked  amazingly delectable banana bread and us kids used to love gobbling  it up!

The Red Feather

Moving to Clarkston was my intention for about a year and on October 10th, 2010, yes… 10/10/10! I found a beautiful apartment and made my move. It went ALL wrong! From the "Two Men In A Truck" arriving an hour late and turning out to be "Two Boys In A Truck," to the "Boys" saying they had to take time to relax on my dime to eat pizza in the moving truck, to not being able to get the sofa OUT of the old apt, to not being able to get the old sofa INTO the new apartment and then having to resort to either abandoning my less-than-a-year-old beautiful brown high back microfiber sofa to the dumpster or calling all my friends in a state of contrasting emergency to see if one of them would temporarily "house" my precious sofa! What a day! I had seriously forgotten just how stressful a move COULD be! As it turned out, my sofa was driven to my friends' house and I was later informed that  another friend of mine and her husband who were struggling financially unbeknownst to me, were in need of a sofa. Well, the Universe decided the best thing would be to give my sofa to my friends in need.  I was pleased as punch! I knew that God/Source/All That Is had a plan for me and possibly that plan would of course include even BETTER new furniture for my cozy new apartment! And I was right! 

I was able to purchase a lovely olive green sofa and love seat living room set complete with flatscreen TV, decorative rug, two lamps, two end tables and a matching coffee table! When the furniture company delivery men arrived at my door, they quickly realized that they could not get my new furniture in through the front door! "Here we go again!", I thought… then, the final resolution was to hoist the sofa up over the balcony of my apartment. "Do I really want to be present to witness this attempt?" I thought. Uh, NOOO! However, I gathered the gumption to watch and with a huge belt-like thing, they managed to do it. I was eternally grateful and the men were off for their next delivery.

 It was very strange to be in a new living space. VERY… I had come from a tiny 500 square foot 1 bedroom garden apartment to a huge 1,000 square foot 2 bedroom "castle" apartment and realized the walls were paper thin in the new place as my Miniature Dachshund seemed to have a very healthy fifth Chakra and proceed to bark his ever-loving head off at the drop of a hat!…or when the mailman arrived, or when the neighbors' door opened, or when the guy upstairs pounced around his living room each Saturday chasing his hyperactive toddler son around directly above my head… "Great, just great!" I thought. I haven't even been in this place a month and I am going to be evicted due to a misbehaving loudmouthed yappy lapdog of mine!   I began to feel that maybe I had made the wrong decision to move here. After all, the move was pure hell. I felt like I did a very poor job of "manifesting a smoothe move" "Law of Attraction my ass!" I thought! -No pun intended…But I knew I had created this move and it all happened for my highest good, really. Even if it didn't feel like it at the moment. One day I left my apartment with my small red hound and ran a few errands. Upon returning, I walked up my stairs and reached my front door. Mind you, the door to my apartment is housed within an exterior corridor hallway of sorts and there were never any wind gusts that could possibly reach my apartment door! I glanced down at my feet on the "welcome" doormat that so proudly welcomed all friends who visited, and I saw a soft pale (female) red fluffy Cardinal feather! Joy permeated my Being as I once again, was given a gift from Spirit…from my Mom!

The Snowy Owl

It was a couple of years since my Mom had made her transition back Home. I walked into my local Hallmark store probably in search of another mushy birthday card for a friend when I found a collection of children's stuffed animals at the back of the store. A beautiful Snowy Owl sat majestically in the front of the other "stuffties." I picked him up and noticed how super soft and fluffy he was in my hands. Then I noticed a manufacturer's "gift tag" on the bird's left wing. As I gazed at the card, it read, "For you (heart) with a small red heart"  and had an illustrated drawing of a cute brown teddy bear with his arms outstretched in a "pre-embrace" fashion next to the inscription. "That's cute", I thought… then my eyes shifted downward to the bottom of the giftcard and my jaw DROPPED! I couldn't believe what I was seeing! It read…"Mary Meyer." That was my Mom's name verbatim, EXACT spelling! I was stunned! 

Well, of course I had to purchase my new owl friend so I brought him immediately up to the counter to present my cash. I walked out to my car, got in and opened the paper bag containing my newfound stuffed pal. I picked him up again and noticed he had what I now affectionately call "the butt tag" and it said in big BOLD RED letters… MARY MEYER! I knew without a doubt as tears fell down my face that this was indeed another gift from Mom! It was perfect!…from the "gift card" with the teddy bear drawing preparing to hug someone to  the "For you, love" As my Mom, being 100% Irish American had always affectionately called us kids "love!" You see, Mom always loved birds and was also a child at heart and liked stuffed animals as well! And again, I knew I was never alone and that my Mom was always near me! 

The Crow

It was December 27th, 1993  around 10:30AM as our entire family gathered around Mom's bedside in her sunny San Diego home. I was holding Mom's left hand with my right hand as we all watched her take her last gasps of air until she finally took one long breath and then  peace permeated the entire room. She was a merely 50 years young Mom, and I was a 27 years young daughter.  Mom had been struggling with Cancer for the past five years and she had finally decided it was time to go back Home. 

We had a memorial service at our local Catholic church followed by a traditional Irish wake with many many family and friends. A few days later I was sitting at the window seat of my plane preparing to take off and return to Michigan. There was a long stretch of 8 to 10 silver birds lined up for take off at the San Diego Airport that morning.  All of a sudden, out of the corner of my right eye there appeared a rather LARGE BLACK BIRD! He looked like a Crow and I noticed that he was hovering and trying to get my attention, it seemed. He kept turning his head and flapped his wings to stay within view of my window! "That's odd", I thought to myself. Then I started to think, here I am on a NOISY departure strip of an airport getting ready to take off with all these other noisy planes revving their engines and a BIRD decides to reveal himself to me! My left brain tried to justify and rationalize it all. It simply could not be done! Birds just don't fly up to airplane windows and HANG OUT! Birds don't like LOUD sounds!…Finally we were airborne, and I realized it was my Mom saying "I love you, I am still with you, and I am ok." I cried into my kleenex tears of both sadness and comfort with a deep knowing that I would never be alone.