In honor of my late mother-in-law’s birthday today, and the 7th anniversary of my dad’s passing, I’d like to share this short final chapter from Organizing for The Spirit:

A man of ritual, routine, and regularity, my father opened my biweekly email newsletters at precisely 11:00 on Saturday mornings. It didn’t matter that he had been up since 5:00 or that I usually sent them before 10:00; his time to check his mail was 11:00. Period.

My dad passed away suddenly on May 7, 2003. Fortunately, I was with him, in town to help my folks out after my mother’s mild stroke three weeks previous. Even though he had survived a massive heart attack twenty-two years before and four subsequent cardiac arrests, it came as a shock that it was finally his time to go.

As I contemplated writing my next newsletter, I didn’t know how to deal with the fact that my father wouldn’t be sitting at his computer, ready to read it, ever again. But a wise friend told me to write it anyway,  because my dad would still receive it – he would simply be at another address.

My dad was a complex and stubborn man, and that’s probably what kept him alive for so many extra years. He insisted on things being done his way, and only his way, but after his attack he left an impressive legacy of public service through his twenty-two years of volunteer work for many organizations.

The night before the funeral, I lay awake, wondering what exactly I could contribute for my part of the eulogy. My husband told me not to worry, that somehow my dad would “tell” me what to say. The next morning, my mother came to me with an envelope that she had taken from the back of her desk drawer. It read, “To Be Opened Upon My Demise” and was signed by my father. “I knew this was there,” she told me, “but I have no idea when he wrote it.” We opened the envelope, which contained one sheet of paper, with but a single sentence written on it, summing up what he believed to be the purpose of his life.

As my father demonstrated to me, “Organizing for the Spirit” means to become who you really are – to discover what makes you unique and personally powerful so that you can experience the joy of living and sharing your gifts with others. Organizing for the Spirit is a lifelong process of discovery and self-development, and the ultimate personal adventure. As my dad wrote in his final message: “To leave the world a bit better – to know that a life has been changed because you were there – this is to have succeeded.”

It is never too late to become who you are meant to be.

On this day of celebrating the earth, I’d also like to give thanks for our guests Scott and Tina and 6 year old Kate and little 3 year old Izzie who always show us how to appreciate all of the planet’s bounty — especially the food!

Scott is a seasoned professional chef (ho ho) and has treated us to amazing meals all week. And yesterday Tina and I took Kate for her first sushi. Although the weather’s been a bit cool for Sedona, we’ve managed to pack in a lot of touring as well. We do love having guests!

My former next-door neighbor, my best ol’ buddy from the time we were 3 years old, came out to visit this week. We did a number of things together in Sedona but the highlight was scrapbooking. We both love the hobby, but more than that, we got to “play” together like we did when we were kids — finding pictures of the games we enjoyed for hours on end and the musical groups we loved back in the 50’s and 60’s. No, we weren’t putting clothes on the Lennon sisters paper dolls like we used to do, but we were sharing the fun of creating while we listened to the oldies and reminisced.

Long-time girlfriends — priceless.

3 Ladies from Chico’s – Sue, Sunny and Debbie. Notice the amazing similarity in scarfs? Since we each selected the same one, maybe we should be the 3 Caballeros.

  Riding the trail on a beautiful spring morning. Life is good.

I finally got to do a Vision Board for 2010! Had to throw my own worskhop to make the time to do it, but it was such a wonderful experience. I believe that this type of exercise is often best done in the community of other people so that we can all benefit from the shared wisdom. Thanks to Debra for hosting and facilitating with me. We’re looking for many more of these to come!

Read about The Philanthropy Project.

photo credit gabernaculum

It’s first a trickle, a flow, then a torrent pouring down from above. I’m so grateful that I’ve learned to appreciate the ebbs and flows and how to swim in the abundance!

Fast week! Tomorrow we head back south to Brevard. It will be nice to re-enter wedding preparation mode with the sense of gratitude and peace that comes with being in this place.

I’m ready!

It was a whirlwind trip but a wonderful one. Saturday night was a reunion of my old neighborhood in Baltimore, Md. with friends and parents I haven’t seen in more than 25 years. We relived old adventures and found out that some stories were remembered differently by all of us. It was non-stop laughter, good food and good times.

And then we were off to Cambridge, Md. to visit my son in his new grad school digs. It was also a reunion of sorts since we haven’t seen him in months. He showed us around the historical town of Cambridge and took us to the lab where he’s been doing oyster research this summer. We drove back to Brevard today and made it in 11 hours. Whew.