This blog discusses my connection to my father through an extraordinary sign following his recent passing. When form changes, do we lose connection? Or do we look for the “magic”?
Recently, my sister, Leslie and I traveled to parts of the world we had dreamed about for years. Now, this is a trip that was planned for 3 years and wasn’t realized until July 5th 2022. Little did we know, our parents would both pass away very close to when we were to begin our much anticipated Mermaid Sister Dream Trip! Incredibly, they passed within 23 days of each other. We feel they were saying, “You have done well in taking care of us. Now, go and enjoy your adventure.”
One of the first days on our trip, we were standing in line in Athens, Greece to tour the Parthenon. As lines do wrap around, I heard a man’s voice right beside me that took me back to childhood in a split second --- I thought, “That’s Magic Johnson!” My head turned to the left to reveal the unmistakable 6 ‘ 9” frame of my childhood hero, Earvin Johnson Jr., a.k.a. Magic Johnson! I quietly told Leslie, “There’s Magic!” By now, he was standing behind me about 4 to 5 people back. He was wearing a surgical mask and a shorter man stood in front of him also wearing the same kind of mask. I said, “That looks like LL Cool J!”
Upon returning back to our hotel, Leslie googled if they were friends. Up popped a story about how Magic had chartered roughly a $million dollar per week yacht to take a European vacation with friends, LL Cool J and Samuel Jackson along board. Now what makes this story so amazing…
1. Magic was my childhood hero, I mean I adored that man. Dad was the one who first told me all about him the night he was to play in the NCAA championship against Larry Bird’s team. Remember this? 1979…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZDbhkX2t9A
But it was Magic that Dad made so alive and sparkle in my imagination. As a basketball player, over the years, Dad would say, “Bring the Magic!” I even had a Magic poster on my bedroom door from middle school until I left home to teach in Texas. My teenage years were spent shooting hoops with Dad and listening to his words of encouragement as I developed my skill. Even though he was a tireless, high profile community worker, he never missed a single basketball game at home or away. Magic was a link to our soulful connection.
2. The name of the yacht that Magic chartered…Aquilla! That is my Dad’s unique middle name. Leslie and I got goosebumps when we learned this. I said, “Dad, you brought me Magic Johnson?!! What a sign!”
Are there signs we receive when someone we love has ascended and changed their form that they once inhabited? I choose to believe that this coincendence was indeed, a message from Dad saying, “I am okay. Totally fine, in fact. But remember, to bring the magic.”
When loss is experienced, grief can settle into the system which I am feeling as heavy and slow. I know not to numb it (even though I may want to sometimes) but to simply be with the feelings letting the tears flow as needed, reflecting on memories and resting in stillness. My yoga and breathing practices nourish my system. Can we find the strength to remember and honor the magic that we felt with that special someone by becoming the “magic” in our day to day lives? Grief is a process but not a destination. In other words, we don’t want to get stuck. Joy is the destination, always.
I am honoring both of my parents (have also gotten signs from Mom that she is fine) by bringing the magic to the work I do as a yoga therapist and as an eternal student of yoga. The Yoga Sutras (first chapter)teach us to approach life by seeing from that place of curiosity like a child seeing things for the first time. Children understand how to see things in a magical way. Did we forget to view life this way? If so, when? And can we come back to this idea? Can we embody magic itself?
I say Yes! What a sign! Here’s to the magic of life!!