Sign, Sign, Everywhere a Sign

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been a little frightened of “fortune tellers”, people who read cards, palms, etc. I never wanted anyone to tell me anything about my future or my life and I’ve always managed to avoid them. Many years ago, a very close friend of Corky’s (my mother-in-law) read cards and was known to be very accurate. She read the cards for several family members but I told her no way, not me, thanks but no thanks. Years and years later, I had several opportunities to have my palm and cards read. Sure, some of these opportunities were a little hokey. They were people hired to perform at employee picnics and events. Maybe they were just people who were hired for whatever the job required. Perhaps they were a juggler or a clown or a fortune teller if the job called for it. But what if they were for real? So again, no way, not me, thanks but no thanks.

I was also always fascinated by the likes of Sylvia Browne, James Van Praagh and John Edward. Some would say mediums or psychics pick up on signals people give them and are trained to lead those people down a path by the way they answer questions and the body language they give off.

I guess what I’m saying in a roundabout way is that I believe in spirits and that there is another realm. I found this on the internet….”The law of energy states, ‘Energy can be neither created nor destroyed, only changed in form.’ This means that we as energy, are now, always have been, and always will be! We never really die.” I always wished that I could experience seeing or feeling a spirit. For me, its different than someone telling me something about my life and my future so it didn’t bother me. It’s well known that there are ghosts and spirits where I work. The place has been around since the 1920s after all. Being a health care facility, there have been countless deaths here; probably a good portion of them went before they were ready. So sure, the spirits of some of them might have had a difficult time coming to terms with the death of their mortal bodies. I’ve talked to a few people I work with and they have had unquestionable encounters with a spirit here.

I know that Al is still with us in some sense. Not in the way where he hasn’t “crossed over” or anything unsettling. But he is definitely with us. The way I believe that there are spirits and that those we love never really leave us, I also believe in signs. Al has been showing us signs of his presence since he passed away. Some would say that what I call signs are mere coincidences. I choose to believe otherwise. The signs I want to write about….some are extremely obvious even to a non-believer and some are more subtle and something that non-believers would call a stretch of the imagination. Doesn’t matter, they’re real to me.

• The official time of Al’s death certificate reads 7:39AM on March 13. At 7:37AM on March 14, I awoke to my cell phone ringing. The screen said Restricted. I answered my phone but it kept ringing. I looked at the screen and it still said Restricted and was still ringing through. No matter what I did, I could NOT answer the call. I KNOW it was Al.
• The next sign was at breakfast that same morning. We were a huge party of 20 and The Good Egg divided our party in to several groups between two servers. When the check I shared with Alison & Brad came, we noticed it said, “Dining: Big Al” and thought my nephew Jason had put our group name under Al’s nickname, Big Al. Then Lesley showed me her check. It said, “Dining: Marissa”. We realized and confirmed that our server was named Big Al.
• When my kids and I were at Lesley’s discussing what songs should be played during Al’s memorial service, I got in the car to go home, turned on the car and the song we had decided on began as soon as the car started and played in its entirety, finishing as I pulled in to my driveway.
• Yesterday on Father’s Day, I was up early and wished Al a happy Father’s Day out loud. Of course a few tears fell as I spoke to him. I opened up the Parade magazine in the newspaper and looked at the Personality Parade on the inside cover. There was a question about the 80s band Devo. Al loved Devo! Whip It, Whip It Good! We used to have so much fun back in the day singing that to each other and would goof around acting silly whenever the song came on. Then I turned the page to find the article titled At the End of Life, They Offer Comfort. It was all about the incredible, compassionate people who feel the calling to be Hospice nurses. As most people who experience Hospice care will tell you, we were amazed at the gentle love and genuine compassion those nurses showed Al. He was sending me a sign yesterday morning.
• As we were getting ready to spend Father’s Day the way Al did every year for as long as I can remember (eating King Crab Legs and watching the Open), Alison stopped at the store to pick up a 12 pack of beer to bring over. She put it up on the checkout counter along with her other items and then noticed the expiration date on the side of the carton. It was Al’s birthday.

There are many, many other signs we’ve had from Al. My kids and I choose to believe it’s him and he is reassuring us that he is still a part of our everyday lives. They are sweet reminders of the love he had and will always have for his family.