Between Monday and Thursday of this week I lost three patients, even in hospice this is a lot for one person's census. On Thursday morning our state was recovering from a pretty major wind/rain storm. Many lost power and there was substantial flooding. To top it all off Ed is half way around the world and it is only the half way point to his return.
I shared with my daughter Heather, who was home with her kids due to the storm that it is most definitely a rainbow shirt day. I have a shirt with small rainbows on it that is my 'go to' shirt when I'm feeling down.
Rainbows are not a cure-all; they can't bring people back to life, stop someone from dying and they can't change the weather.
What rainbows can do is remind you that something beautiful can be left behind in the wake of a storm; literal or figurative!
I have suffered greatly throughout my life in many a storm, as I know most of you reading this have.
For me, a rainbow is love!
In my faith tradition it is a gift form the Divine and a promise of continued love.
This rainbow was extra special because of the moon; the moon that was right smack dab in the center of my rainbow as I began a new day was the same moon in the sky watching over Ed as he slept. Both Ed and I were born on full moons and we spoke for the first time on a full moon, a blue moon at that, which is a rare second full moon in the same month, and it was a Paschal moon; which is the full moon just before Easter! Ed always tells me he loves me to the moon and back....and at an incredibly sad and lonely moment I was gifted with the absolute vision of
Love you to the moon and back.....
There in no distance love can't reach!
There is no border love can't cross, including the separation that death leaves behind.
Rainbows make me smile and bring me joy. Many friends and family have gifted me with rainbows, for which I am most grateful! At the same moment I was taking this photo, I received a loving message from a new friend who was grieving the loss of her mom (a bird lover just like me) and a glorious bird flew right through my lens as I snapped the photo with the rainbow heading toward the moon! Throughout the rest of the day every time I started to feel down, just like magic, I'd turn my head and there was another rainbow supplying me with much needed love to help me along my journey! I shared this rainbow love with a patient who was down herself in the form of a rainbow manicure and she smiled, which for her, is physically and emotionally a challenge.
Love is real and it is eternal, look for it and it will surprise you every time. On a cloudy day out of the shadows there is love and it prevails!
Todays prayer is for all who grieve; the loss of someone to death, separation because of addiction, because of travel, because of fear; that you find joy in some small way and that it grows like a seed of love planted in your heart to promote healing.
SOS began as a gift of love to break down barriers and deepen our connection to one another through love and compassion for our individual journeys and that is exactly what it does, one rainbow at a time!
Peace, love, compassion and rainbows be with you today and always!!!
Loving all of you.....to the moon and back!!!
k