There are some things that I know, just as I know my own name. One of those things, is that my Gpa is still with me. We had a very close relationship. When we lived 3000 miles apart, and I’d go to call him, the phone would ring in my hand. We were just “on the same page” about life in general, kindred spirits. We had a deal, whoever got there first had to save a seat for the other one on the train. When I lived in Hawaii, I would visit my Gpa, in Oregon, as often as I could. Gpa cooked everything in a cast iron skillet full of bacon grease. His entire house smelled like bacon, all the time. When I would get home to Hawaii after a visit and open my suitcase, everthing smelled like bacon. My first birthday without my Gpa, I took my dog for a walk down the road. Gpa and I used to walk his 63 acres all the time and look for pretty rocks, until he couldn’t anymore. As my dog and I were headed up my forested driveway, I suddenly smell bacon, it was so strong. I fell to my knees and cried, because I could feel him there. My dog, just sat down and stared above my head. I still cry when I think about it, because it was such a beautiful moment. Best birthday gift ever! Gpa was big on birthdays and holidays. While living in Hawaii, Christmas trees were really expensive, and sometimes not enough available for everyone. Gpa loved Christmas, and always made sure I had a tree. He would cut me a Charlie Brown tree off his property, shove it in a PVC pipe (along with some pretty Oregon rocks), duct tape the ends and mail it to me. I would get scoldings at the post office every time, but Gpa did what he wanted. The employees would actually giggle, because it was just too cute. I always made sure to give the tree a bath as soon as I got it so as to not introduce any new spiders to the islands. I moved to Oregon when Gpa wasn’t well, and he passed away in 2011. I haven’t really celebrated Christmas since then. I decorated a tree in my driveway 13 years ago, and left it that way. So, one evening last year, my friend stops by while I’m working on one of my pieces. He says, “what is that, a Christmas tree?”. This friend has always been one to just say the right thing to me at the right time, he plants seeds. I just laughed at him and said “No”. Then he saw the crystal mushrooms in my art and told me the story about the red and white mushroom and the connection to the Santa story. Boy, that was a little rabbit hole there. Then a few days later, I’m working on a different piece, listening to some music, just thoroughly enjoying myself and thinking how fun it would be to do this forever. Then there he was, I could hear his belly laugh. He says “Look at you decorating branches with pretty ornaments, just like a Christmas tree, and loving it”! I laughed so hard, and cried, and laughed again. My friend was right, in a way, he was certainly validation for me. Just recently, I experienced a miracle in my life. I wrote a blog post (“Testimonial”) about the experience. It wasn’t until after posting it, and rereading it, did I realize that my miracle experience happened on my Gpa’s birthday. Coincidence? I don’t believe in coincidences anymore. I know he’s guiding me, without any doubt, just as I know my name is Chris.
