To know me is to know I’m not technically savvy. Not in any way, shape or form, which makes what I’m about to share with you perhaps a little spooky, or conceivably an act of an angel.
My friend Stella died several years ago, however, I know she is still here with me. I sense her energy every day. People have told me they have seen her image around me (“Are you aware there is a woman spirit standing by your shoulder?”) Yup, and I know it’s her. It seems she has decided to become my Guardian Angel and keep me safe. Everyone should have such a seraph.
In her Earthbound life, she appeared ill and elderly (although she was just in her early sixty’s) with COPD and other issues. But in her Heavenly life, she is a force of nature, strong and determined. She has almost taken over the role of an Arch Angel in my life, something she used to talk about when I could see her face to face. Let’s just say I know she means business with keeping me from harms way.
Her death was devastating to me. Even though I knew she was sick, I was playing the denial game, not seeing how she was slipping further and further away. She was being hospitalized and recovering in the nursing home often, always wanting to get better, but losing her health footing with each episode.
I was in Colorado on a spiritual retreat when I received the call from her friend that it was time to say goodbye. I spoke to her on the phone and as if she was just waiting to hear my voice — a few hours later she slipped away leaving her body and my heart behind.
Her funeral was conducted before I got back and I never thought to read her obituary. Why? No time I guess…I knew she didn’t have any children, just a myriad of friends who reached out to me.
I may have written about this before, I had read somewhere, after people die; they enter into a place to exist while waiting to go on to Heaven or to the next life. It is a place for souls rest, sort out what has happened and review their past existence. It is called the “Bardo” and I like to think of it as a “hang out” where the departed get acclimated from being Earthbound, to spirit form. It supposedly takes 40 days to go through.
I’m sure you have heard the saying, “When you hear a bell ring, it means an angel got their wings.” Knowing Stella would certainly take on the role of an Angel, I decided to host a “Stella Got Her Wings” party, which I held at my home exactly 40 days after she left Earth.
I invited all her friends and IPPW members and bought a bunch of bells for us to use on our quest. Precisely 40 days to the hour when she took her last breath, we rang the bells. We celebrated her life, told “Stella” stories and tried to imagine her new feathers.
It was a wonderful day and after it was over, I felt myself settling into my new reality, one where I could not pick up the phone to speak with my friend. However, she always would pop into my mind, and when I pondered a question and the answer would magically be transported back and appear in my head. I imagined it was our way of staying connected. As much as I missed her physical self, working together like this felt good.
With her newfound strength, a different feeling of collaboration has taken shape. She regularly visits, in spirit form of course, and even visits our mutual friend Ina also who gets visions from her.
It was because of her message through Ina that IPPW was resurrected. I wasn’t listening very well, so Stella decided to go to Ina to get my attention. Ina told me of Stella’s wishes to bring IPPW back. After a three-year hiatus, I had been thinking of it. I realized the time was right to get back to work.
So, here I sit at my computer, working on IPPW everyday and occasionally glancing at Stella’s colorful photo by my desk. I was feeling her loving energy when this incident occurred. I could not have made this happen if I tried.
It started when I opened a box near my desk to see if it were something that should be place in the yard sale box or packed away for my move. When it opened, out jumped one of Stella’s bells from the bell ringing ceremony. “Hi Stella,” I said.
The next day I was searching on my computer for e-mail from a person whom had contacted me a few days earlier. When I typed into the “search button,” something or someone overrode my computer and up popped an e-mail from Stella!
Note, I still have her past e-mails saved in my computer. I never read them, but somehow, having them there feels right. I’ve just never wanted them deleted.
Oh, how good it was to see her name come across my screen. “Stella!!!” I shouted as it actually startled me.
The e-mail simply read this: Mrs. Adair, you have touched my life.
It was written back in 2009, just after I had been remarried. Stella loved my “lemon fresh” husband Rick and from the moment we were married, she called me Mrs. Adair.
The e-mail had an attachment. It was a simple story, one that was old enough to have been circulated on a fax, but still relevant to the world today. A poignant story, it would have brought tears to my eyes even if I had not received it from Stella. I’ll attach it at the end of this article for you, but for now, allow me to paraphrase.
It was a tale of a little child who became friends with a local telephone operator. As the years went on, the voice over the phone speaks to him, giving him advice and comfort.
One day when he came crying, asking for advice on how to mend a broken heart when he told her his pet bird that had died, she simply said, “There are other worlds to sing in.” Those words of wisdom gave him comfort as they did me.
Now, back to my encounter with Stella. This e-mail…hummm, how did this pop up on my screen anyway? Why now? OK, I’m no tech-savvy genius, but even I know there was no way for this to appear without a little super natural effort.
I began to see it as a message from Stella…but what was she trying to tell me? She had died on August 3, 2010. But today was August 5th, a few days past the anniversary. Honestly, I had forgot the exact date, but when this message appeared, I remembered she had passed in early August. Right by my picture of her on my desk, it states her birth and death date.
Hummm…. Why bring it to me today on August 5th? Something told me to look her up on the internet. I did, and guess what I found? Her obituary was written on August 5th, 2010 … ok, a clue. This e-mail had popped up on my screen exactly 5 years to the day her obituary was published
Wow, she had been gone five years? Ok, ok… but there must be something else? I decided to read her obituary and that is where I saw it. At the end of her bio, the article stated:” A Celebration of her life is being planned.” … Ok, my party for her bell ringing, wing celebration …and then words that simply stunned me: In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Debby Adair Fund.
What?? The Debby Adair Fund? There is no Debby Adair Fund I said to myself. I mean…hummm, I was confused?
But a minute later, after thinking of everything, it all made sense. That must have been her code word for IPPW, In the Presence of Positive Women. It was the place Stella loved and was loved. We had met her there all those years before. IPPW is like family to her and many of us were her children.
There are no coincidences my friends. This was planned by my dear spirit companion, as a way to remind me that I’m on the right path. She is still here with me, although singing someplace else, but loving me and her positivity sisters in her big, guardian angel way.
As most of you know, I am packing up my life to begin a year long (maybe longer) trip abound the country, opening up chapters of IPPW wherever I can and building this organization bigger and better that it has ever been.
Do I get scared with the vastness of this project? Oh sure… I am stepping out into the unknown, leaving behind the comfort of the familiar and letting go of the reigns a bit more.
With the “Debby Adair Fund” or better known as IPPW, now in place, the monetary offerings along with your support and love, I know, together, we can make this an organization something magical that will change the world for the better. Our simple philosophy of teaching principles of self growth and change, all while collaborating and helping each other through challenging times, well, it has Stella’s name written all over it.
Have you ever had an experience like mine, where someone who has passed away still influences your direction? Do you have something really big you have to do, and notice the signs of possibilities come both Earth-bound and Heaven sent? Do those invisible forces seem to come out of nowhere, but you know they have a purpose? They sure do with me, and I would love to hear about your experiences.
But for now, I’m back at my desk, plotting the course of my life with IPPW, looking over to the picture of Stella, and feeling very loved.
Here is the story she included in her e-mail. It’s now passed on from Stella and me… enjoy!
Editors note: The article sent by Stella was originally published as “The Voice in the Box” by Paul Villard in Readers Digest Magazine, June 1966. You can read the entire article online at: http://www.rd.com/true-stories/inspiring/boy-telephone-operator-friendship/
