#LoveStories celebrates the good people who make a difference. Tell a story about someone who has made your life a little lighter. Better yet, share that story with them.
If we should all be so lucky to find our soulmate. Someone who you see in every vision you have of your future. Soulmates can be lovers, friends or anywhere in between. It is about the deep connection you have, the love of the little details that you can’t even see in yourself.
Do you have a soul mate story to tell?
Share your story. #sharethelove
The Long Walk
The nursing home called to tell me I didn’t have much time. That morning, my mother’s breathing had changed, a sure sign that death was at the door. I made my way as quickly as I could. My mother had asked me to sing to her in her last moments and I wanted to honor that request.
After she passed, I sat with my mom to say my final goodbye before the funeral home arrived and her death became ceremony, rather than a quiet parting of hearts. The staff at the home came in to check on me. They knew that I had spent the last decade and more, caring for my mother. Even the doctor pulled me aside to help me deal with the wave of grief that was sure to follow.
When I was ready, they called the funeral home to pick up her body so all the arrangements could be made for that final, formal goodbye. I wandered out of her room but stopped at the nursing home door as I didn’t know where to go. I felt lost. Do I go home? To work? Neverland?
We had known this was coming but that didn’t mean I knew what to do with myself.
The man I had just started dating told me I could call him anytime, including the day I lost my mother. Did he mean it? If I called, would he be too ‘busy’ for me? Would I be imposing? Could he really handle my grief, or would I lose him too by taking him up on his offer?
I called. He had offered so I figured that I might as well test the relationship. I didn’t want to date a man who ran from intense emotions. Yet we hadn’t been dating long so I was feeling unsure.
He asked me what I wanted to do. I suggested a walk in Stanley Park, which is a huge forested park in Vancouver where I live.
We walked for hours. He listened as I reminisced. He held me when I cried. He didn’t try to fix it or tell me I’d be okay. He was present for me.
He left the rest of the world behind and gave me his undivided attention at a moment when others might have run or tried to tell me that life would go on. He did none of that.
That was the day I knew. I have done my best to be with him in the moments he has needed me the most. We continue to go on this long walk together.
Tell Better Stories
Would you like to tell better stories? Or maybe you would like a safe place to share your story?
Join me at an online story workshop or one of my story coaching circles.