Letting Go of “Things”
by Bonnie Ross-Parker 

                        It had been a while since this  very special friend and I had  gotten together.  When she called and asked me to meet  later that week for lunch I was thrilled. We arrived at the café at the same time, embraced tightly, ordered soup and salad and began “catching up”.  The last time we talked I was going through a challenging period and delighted to report I was back on track.  As we were eating and engaged in warm conversation, she told me of a recent dream that included me.  In the dream it came to her that there was something she owned that needed a new home.  She proceeded to take from her purse a small, beautifully wrapped package and handed it to me.  “I don’t need this any more. I want you to have it.”  She said.

            Carefully unwrapping  what felt like glass or something framed, I held in my hand a table-top stained-glass piece of artwork with the inscription, “Expect A Miracle”.  The piece had a rainbow, iris flowers, lush mountains & lake on colored glass that reflected beautifully when held up to the light.  There was something magical about the gift.  I knew it would always  occupy  a special place in my home.  If that wasn’t moving enough, my friend proceeded to share the story of how she came to purchase the artwork.

            Years earlier while on their honeymoon, my friend and her husband saw the stained glass displayed  in a shop window.  It called to them.  They went in, made the purchase and for the next two years it continued to remind them of their wonderful vacation.  Soon thereafter my friend’s husband lost his life in a car accident.  After that she got rid of everything except that one remaining item…She held onto it for a long, long time as if seeing their purchase on a window sill would somehow bring back to life what she lost.

            Just as time heals., new loved ones come into our lives. My   friend  remarried.  While she could never replace what she once had, she created a new life with a new partner.  Then the dream appeared.  In it she found herself free from the past and a feeling of letting go enveloped her.  Remembering me and the challenge I was facing she woke knowing that the time had come for someone else to find answers in the message, “Expect A Miracle” She   no longer needed the visual reminder of what is possible. 

            I’ve had the piece of artwork in my possession for quite some time.  And while I haven’t found the right circumstance   to pass it on to someone else, I have given others items that have had meaning for me.  Letting go of some “thing” from your heart and giving it a new home is powerful.  It’s giving a piece of you to someone else, knowing it is safe, valued and appreciated.  Perhaps there is some “thing” in your life that by giving it to a loved one, a close friend, or even a stranger, it will free you to be less attached to it and more connected to its new owner.  It’s   something to consider.  Not a day goes by that I don’t think of my friend and smile at the gift she so generously gave me.

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