Thursday, June 7, 2012

Paths well worn

Sometimes paths are just this way or that
and look well worn as a result of many miles and tracks once forged from the courage to take them over and again.
Often pleasant, sometimes scary
many times requiring great effort to clear the way along the way,
removing debri and things that get in the way in order to make a way that is easier with each journey it seems.
But often once travelled we still don't know what is beyond the well worn path just down the lane,
there is a hairpin turn,
requiring us to use all we have to get to the next level ground,
or the next place!
We find there are always those who will encourage, will offer advice, will be our cheerleaders on the sidelines
and yet more often than not
it is a journey that is unique to the one who is making the trip.
Each with their own foot steps
each with their own eyes
and
moving through fears, tears, stages
and words that being processed in the heart and the brain and spirit.
Sometimes folks find they need to cross a river,
that it is time to transition
from here to there
to the next place
they feel and know
Creator is calling.
Folks may need to finish the business at hand here; need to let others know
it is time
yet don't want to disappoint, to show their mixed emotions or fears or pain of what "they are goin to miss".
In those times many want to be heard,
to know they will be missed and remembered,
that they and their time have left an impact that is more than now.
Times are so complicated
it seems.
Grief, loss, longing, missing
a river wide and old as time
often happening while we are alive
many who are well know this quite well,
they just don't know the names apply.
Rivers that flow North,
currents that rush and swirl
tides that change
and people that are not liking change.
Forgetting that everyone and everything changes
and yet beauty remains
if we but stop
take a breath and look around.

Choose wisely that which we say
to those walking a journey,
for those who are making a transition
to those who are traveling up river
down stream
and those who are in the transition
from here to the next place.
So many gifts to receive and give
that will last a lifetime
when we allow them and give them freely.

We are richly blessed when we give freely to others from the heart.
And the heart remembers
all that is given with honor, truth and integrity.
...
Thomas O'Brien gave all a message yesterday,
He said that he thinks he is getting close and he thanked his 5,000 guardians that have been loving him and their care, most of which he never met, but wanted all to know he would be watching over them, and hoped everyone was ok.
His mom Debbie, is posting a photo extravaganza of on her facebook page, of she and her son, their lives together.
I can't imagine that she sleeps at all!
I'm thinking that Thomas O'Brien
has lived large for one of 21 years,
as I've seen him in photos as a kid
who was in karate, one in the pilot seat of a plane, driving a boat, geared up to fight a war, as a detention officer, a sheriff in Texas, as a great trickster in his youth, in a tricked out car, on the dance floor with hot chicks, and all manner of photos that will tickle you and break your heart at the same time.
I've seen a Mom with a smile as big as Texas
and wonder why is it she does NOT age?
Must be the water in Texas?
I've been allowed in on a journey that has blessed me, has bent my heart, and that has now made me go out and replinish my candle supply three times over and they are still burning brightly.
I have cussed and wept and hollered and continue to stand strong in my stance and stomp
CANCER SUCKS
as I now see our strong young warrior
let all inside his journey on paths that are hard to bear and to witness
yet
we are not the ones who have been subjected to them.
So how dare us say that they are hard.
He is a combat warrior of the finest as he has been prodded, poked, punctured, invaded
and yet continued to be kind, honorable, honest and go go go with pain and with strain.
He has posted pictures of him at his best, his good, his awful;
scans of Cancer attacking his precious body,
bleeding from his lung into a basin,
of fears and tears
and
still manages in the end of his life
to send a message
to what he calls his
"guardians" to thank them, to let them know, I'll be lookin at you, and hope you are all ok"
and on top of all this, I have to remind myself he is 21 years old, with a brain that is still developing.
Yet his soul has to be that of an old wisdom keeper and the Creator sent him here as a true and beautiful gift to all that he has touched if only for a short time.
I only hope he has been able to fuss/cuss/hoop and holler
during all of this; to drink a beer or twenty
and to do all the things a 21 year old male wants to do along the journey!
I have a feeling that he has,
and I know there are more, many more
than 5,000 people that now know the magic and the grace
of that young man known as Thomas O'Brien
that his Mom Debbie Koenig gave birth and a foundation to.
And for that I am grateful.

It takes a real man,
a warrior
to nap and to rest under the same very blanket he had as a child
and to feel peace!
What a great photo
and
what an even greater gentle spirit
that we have all been blessed to know
...
The candles are lit,
the tobacco and sage are here,
the fire is burning
and we are
STANDING FOR THOMAS O'BRIEN
as he prepares for heaven's gate
and all the angels are surrounding him here and in the next place to welcome him
and to let him know:
"Job well done son, welcome home"
..
I heard this song in my dreams all night and I swear I think it was Thomas talking
so here YOU go!

Walk in BEauty
DRSES



4 comments:

fluff said...

Thank you Dr. Sherry, my heart and soul has been touched and moved, these days, by your words, pictures and the life of this great warrior Thomas O'Brien. Prayers continue for Thomas, Mom Debbie and furry friend Seamus. Prayers for comfort and peace through this journey they are on at this time. /Sandy♥

Anonymous said...

Another beautiful commentary on life, and the journey that it is for each of us. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and feeling here. Blessings to Thomas and his Mom. Blessings to each of us.

Dot/Mom/Cob said...

Dear Thomas and Debbie, when he gets where he is going with the song from Brad Paisley our dear Granny will be there with arms wide open. She is a hoot and she will embrace him with all of her children she has with her. She will probably even ask him for a dance as she was always singing and dancing and loved her Kenny Rogers. You are in our thoughts and prayers here in Southwest Virginia. We have enjoyed knowing you and crying with you and your mom thru Dr. SES. God Bless You and he and the angels will be with you on your journey. Words cannot express how we feel about you and feel we have known you a long time. Blessings to our dear sweet Thomas and Debbie.

Anonymous said...

Such a sad and poignant story. A true hero; he and his Mom. You can see where he gets his strength from. Thomas is an inspiration to many. Bless him on his journey.

Great song. This was Jaren's song as well. Ironic.

-New England