Peace

a view from our dining room



I saw this letter on the "RIP Jessica Schaffer" page on facebook.
I thought it was beautiful and a good reminder for me.
It is written by the owner of "Sportsworld" on the square.
They make custom shirts, sweartshirts and such for teams etc......
read the note...esp. the last few sentences....It is beautiful.
have a beautiful day.
Namaste,
Michele



Hi Everyone,

I am sending this to you because you all are very important to me.

If you have not heard, a very sweet, sweet young lady lost her life this past weekend. I had the pleasure of knowing Jessica Schaffer - she would stop in to see me here at work, sometimes she'd get shirts made with her brother and boyfriend's racing numbers on them, sometimes to just browse and chat. Jess stopped in on Friday and had something made for her grandfather for Christmas and told me of her plans to follow in his path to Ohio University. Jess has touched the lives of so many. I cannot even express how much I will miss her - she will always be 'my little friend'. Please, I ask each of you to keep this family in your prayers.......It has been very difficult for so many of us, I can't even imagine what her family is going thru. But this has really put things into perspective - there are so many unimportant things in life that we make way too important. Hug your loved ones, tell them you love them EVERY chance you get, never leave or go to bed angry - make sure the last thing you say or do before you/they walk out the door or hang up is something you/they can live with the rest of your/their life. You never know when it will be the last time you see them or they will see you. So if a bed goes unmade or if you've actually forgotten what color carpet is in their room! or they stay up way past their bedtime - this isn't life changing! Let them have fun, live a little yourself! If they run across the furniture, shock them - follow behind! Throw the couch pillows at them! Take a night just to play games - and don't answer the phone! Laugh with each other, laugh at yourself. Have dessert for dinner -.....brownies have most of the daily food requirements in them, just in case have a glass of milk with it!

Life is so short, no one really knows how much time we have here - so live it up!

I wish each and every one of you a very safe and happy holidays!

Sincerely,

Ameena Hoshaw

Rest in Peace

An old classmate of mine, Tammi Dunlap Schaffer just lost her daughter in a car accident on Saturday.
She was a senior at Medina High School. I can't imagine the loss that their family feels.
She was a beautiful girl with so much life ahead of her.....it sounds like she touched a lot of lives by reading all of the notes people have left on the facebook group" Rest in Peace Jessica Schaffer."
Please keep the family in your prayers.

below are some words of comfort that I remember that Ram Dass wrote to a family when their 12 year old daughter was violently murdered.
It is a beautiful letter.



Dear Steve and Anita,
Rachel finished her work on earth, and left the stage in a manner that leaves those of us left behind with a cry of agony in our hearts, as the fragile thread of our faith is dealt with so violently. Is anyone strong enough to stay conscious through such teaching as you are receiving? Probably very few. And even they would only have a whisper of equanimity and peace amidst the screaming trumpets of their rage, grief, horror and desolation.

I can't assuage your pain with any words, nor should I. For your pain is Rachel's legacy to you. Not that she or I would inflict such pain by choice, but there it is. And it must burn its purifying way to completion. For something in you dies when you bear the unbearable, and it is only in that dark night of the soul that you are prepared to see as God sees, and to love as God loves.

Now is the time to let your grief find expression. No false strength.

Now is the time to sit quietly and speak to Rachel, and thank her for being with you these few years, and encourage her to go on with whatever her work is, knowing that you will grow in compassion and wisdom from this experience. In my heart, I know that you and she will meet again and again, and recognize the many ways in which you have known each other. And when you meet you will know, in a flash, what now it is not given to you to know: Why this had to be the way it was. Our rational minds can never understand what has happened, but our hearts – if we can keep them open to God – will find their own intuitive way. Rachel came through you to do her work on earth, which includes her manner of death. Now her soul is free, and the love that you can share with her is invulnerable to the winds of changing time and space. In that deep love, include me.

In love,
Ram Dass