Red Hair and Freckles
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Red Hair and Freckles
Running Barefoot through the Storm
Chapter 1
Part of a Dream
“The deep pain that is felt at the death of every friendly soul arises from the feeling that there is in every individual something which is inexpressible, peculiar to him alone, and is, therefore, absolutely and irretrievably lost.” ~Arthur Schopenhauer "I began writing this testimony during a frigid January morning as windswept leaves were returning to the cycle of life. My heart was as desolate as the world appeared before me. I pushed myself to continue chores I had listed on paper kept on the table. I felt a chill as remembrance unfolded, taking my thoughts back to a moment when time virtually stood still. I knew I must continue walking forward one day at a time. Years had faded, and I kept tumbling back into the past; physically, spiritually and emotionally I was like a ghost of my former self descended. I looked at my scribbled notes and felt by scratching over the completed chores something had been accomplished. The tasks appeared useless. I became accustomed to losing myself in a gray world that only a dreamless sleep could bring. A short prayer was said, no dreams please, and I would drift off as another day vanished.
Inwardly I gaze at the picture of life and try to comprehend what I am seeing. Terminology eludes me as I struggle to write about this journey. It is as if I have located only tiny fragments of our existence and attempt to fit them together. This is not an easy task. It is said the pen is mightier than the sword that has pierced my soul, and I will continue to write in hopes that when I connect with other souls wandering through The Valley of the Shadow of Death, my passage will not have been in vain. Going backward, I feel the hot August sun as I push the lawn mower. A big weekend was fast approaching and I wanted everything to be perfect. Labor Day was our family and friends paradise get-together, filling our world with laughter. We had end-to-end plans, a cookout with friends and another special day with family. Bottles of liquor, sodas and snacks lined the kitchen table waiting for the celebration ahead. This visual haunted me for years because the occasion before us was meant to be a moment of joy and togetherness but instead heralded one of the most dreadful times of our lives. The weekend was already planned to perfection. I attempted several calls to my daughter… no answer. She must be doing some running, I thought. My two young grandchildren were right on the verge of starting back to school. I had an uneasy feeling causing the skin on the back of my neck to tingle. I mulled this sensation over in my mind as the sun baked my body. Mother had recently been diagnosed with breast cancer and started radiation treatment, soon to follow up with chemotherapy. “Cancer.” Hearing the sound shakes your world. I was obsessed with thoughts of an afterlife and had been reading books about those that crossed from this world to the next and returned to tell their stories. For months, page after page turned as I read about near death experiences. When Mom received the breast cancer diagnoses, I dismissed my fascination of entering the light as a possible premonition. I had in the past dealt with intuitions that later came to be. I placed another phone call to my daughter with no answer. I became frustrated because I wanted to finalize the last minute details on the upcoming weekend. Out in the sunshine I couldn’t shake the darkness that was beginning to cast a shadow on my spirit. I gathered up large handfuls of freshly cut grass and fed it to our horses over the fence. The phone rang… “Your grandson was in an accident. He was flown to a hospital across the state line.” My daughter’s neighbor gave me choppy details about an accident that my grandson had been in and my daughter was on her way to the hospital..." Check out the other links on this site for more information about this book. Thank you for visiting my site.
