“I will receive what I am giving now, so I am willing to see things differently.”
For five minutes at the beginning of your day, sit quietly in a quiet place. One by one, think of the people in your life, and hold the thought, “(Name), true peace and joy I offer you, that I may have true peace and joy as mine.”
Upon encountering another individual (stranger or not), say silently to yourself once for each encounter, “True peace and joy I offer you, that I may have true peace and joy as mine.“
Melanie Hack
Author of Who Killed My Sister, My friend
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As a teacher of origami, Art Beaudry was asked to represent his school at an exhibit at a large mall. He decided to take along a couple hundred folded paper cranes to pass out to people who stopped at his booth.
Before that day, something strange happened — a voice told him to find a piece of gold foil paper and make a gold origami crane. The voice was so insistent that Art actually found himself rummaging through his collection of origami papers at home until he found one flat, shiny piece of gold foil.
“Why am I doing this?” he asked himself. Art had never worked with the shiny gold paper; it didn’t fold as easily or neatly as the crisp multicolored papers. But that little voice kept nudging. Art tried to ignore the voice. “Why gold foil anyway? Paper is much easier to work with,” he grumbled.
The voice continued. “Do it! And give it to a special person.” By now Art was getting a little cranky. “What special person?” he asked the voice. “You’ll know which one,” the voice said.
That evening Art carefully folded and shaped the unforgiving gold foil until it became as graceful and delicate as a real crane about to take flight. He packed the exquisite crane in the box along with about 200 other colorful paper cranes he’d made over the previous few weeks.
The next day at the mall, dozens upon dozens of people stopped by Art’s booth to ask questions about origami. He demonstrated the art. He folded, unfolded and refolded. He explained the intricate details, the need for sharp creases.
Then, suddenly, there was a woman standing in front of Art. Was this that special person? Art had never seen her before, and she hadn’t said a word as she watched him carefully fold a pink piece of paper into a crane with pointed, graceful wings.
Art glanced up at her face, and before he realized it, he found himself reaching for the gold-foil crane he’d labored over the night before. Carefully he picked up the gold crane, and gently placed it in the woman’s hand.
Art said: “I don’t know why, but a voice told me to give you that golden crane. The crane is the ancient symbol of peace,” Art said simply.
The woman didn’t say a word as she slowly cupped her hand around the fragile bird as if it were alive. When Art looked at her face, he saw tears filling her eyes.
Finally, the woman took a deep breath and said, “My husband died three weeks ago. This is the first time I’ve been out. Today….” She wiped her eyes with her free hand, still gently cradling the golden crane with the other. Then she said very quietly, as tears streamed down her face. “Today would have been our ‘golden’ wedding anniversary.”
Then the lady said in a clear voice, “Thank you so much for this beautiful gift. Now I know that my husband is at peace.
“Don’t you see? The voice you heard, it was the voice of God, and this beautiful crane is a gift from Him. It’s the most wonderful 50th wedding anniversary gift I could have received. Thank you for listening to Holy Spirit within your heart.”
And that’s how Art learned to listen very carefully, when the Holy Spirit speaks to him within, and tells him to do things he may not understand — now or even later.
Are you listening, my friend? God may be speaking to you.
– Author Unknown –
Melanie Hack
Author of Who Killed My Sister, My friend
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Giving and receiving are the same. Do you understand how?
Giving and receiving are the two polarities of the same frequency spectrum of abundance.
Just as joy and sadness are similar in nature but different in degree, joy and sorrow are opposite polarities of the same emotional spectrum. That means joy can be converted into sorrow and sorrow can be transmuted into joy. When you care about someone and give of your help and support to someone in need, the reward of acting in compassion is joy (blessings start unfolding in the life of the person you care about and your sorrow turns to joy).
When you give with an open hand (with gratitude and joy and being conscious of the flow of energy flowing from you to another) and remain open, the energy flows in a circle back to you (but what comes back to you will be multiplied from other sources). But that should not be your motivation for giving—it is from a place of unconditional love and joy that you give back to the universe. You do not want to be attached to the outcome of your giving because that will render it void of positive influence.
So move the energy—Keep the energy flowing. Because the flow of energy is grace and grace is divine love.
If you want to feel better, give. Give a compliment, a flower, a prayer, a smile, or a hug… And at the end of the day reflect on how you feel about the gifts you gave.
Say thank you for the gifts of sunlight, of mountain breezes, of a child’s smile. And at the end of the day reflect on how you feel about the gifts you received.
We all need nurturing. In order to give we must first receive.
Offer what you most want to receive.
Melanie Hack
Author of Who Killed My Sister, My friend
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“I’ve seen and met angels wearing the disguise of ordinary people living ordinary lives.”
– Tracy Chapman –
Melanie Hack
Author of Who Killed My Sister, My friend
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TV Shows and Clips about the Death of Cindy James
I am like a falling star who has finally found her place next to another in a lovely constellation, where we will sparkle in the heavens forever.
– Amy Tan –
Melanie Hack
Author of Who Killed My Sister, My friend
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“Dear Melanie,
For the past few weeks now, I have had you and your sister Cindy, on my mind. Not really sure as to why or what it all meant, until last week. I had just returned from work; it was about 2:30 in the morning. I decided I would go for a little walk, down to the park area, just a few blocks from home.
The sky was clear. I stood there for a few moments and looked up at the stars and just felt so overwhelmed at the serenity and peace they brought me, even in spite of the fact that I was in a city. And it was then; I knew what I wanted to do.
No matter where you are Melanie, no matter what may be going on in your life, your dear sister Cindy, will always be watching over you. It is my sincerest hope that whenever you look up at the stars, you will feel your sister, closer than you have before…
Mindfully,
Dwight”
Yes, Cindy is being lovingly remembered with the star known as 6 Cas in the Constellation of Cassiopeia! What an amazing way for thinking of Cindy! What a comforting thought!
And what a loving soul Dwight is for coming up with the idea! –A gift that totally took me by surprise…a treasure of unspeakable proportions. Thank you.
This gift has filled me with such warmth…a reawakening of beautiful memories with Cindy before her harassment—memories of my childhood when I lived in Europe and Cindy came to visit from her nurses training in Canada and we’d look up at the sky and decipher the shapes of the clouds using our wild imaginations and how that evolved into a love of the universe and all its wonders with the stars and planets…memories of visiting the Vancouver observatory and gazing up at the heavens…memories of watching the laser light show in the science planetarium theatre…
Melanie Hack
Author of Who Killed My Sister, My friend
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The love that once was born cannot die
For it has become part of us, of our life,
Woven into the very texture of our being.
Each of us would wish to leave some part of ourselves,
So here and now we bear witness to the one we knew in life,
Who now in death bequeaths a subtle part, precious and beloved,
Which will be with us in truth and beauty,
In dignity and courage and love
To the end of our days.
– Algernon Black –
Melanie Hack
Author of Who Killed My Sister, My friend
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TV Shows and Clips about the Death of Cindy James
After my sister, Cindy James, died, I dreamed that I thought I could “find” her by covering my face with a purple or mauve cloth that had a tiny hole in it. (Purple was her favorite color.)
Through this hole I could “look” into the universe and search for Cindy. I was able to see various people and images but I couldn’t seem to find Cindy anywhere. Then it dawned on me that I would see her only if I suffocated and died. I didn’t want to die yet so I started to panic about having this cloth over my face. I woke up.
After my first dream with the mauve cloth, I decided the concept was good but the panic needed to be eliminated. Many nights I went to bed and dreamed I was looking for Cindy through that tiny hole in the cloth. I was not afraid of dying anymore but I began to wonder if it was possible to ‘find’ her while I was still alive. Even while I was in Africa before the 1990 inquest I tried searching the skies for her, thinking it would work in a different location. No luck.
And then while I was sleeping, in the wee hours of August 15, 1990, I had an incredible experience that appeared as the reverse of one Cindy’s nightmares…
…And I saw Cindy.
And she was more “bright” and beautiful than I ever remembered her as—lovelier than anyone could imagine. And serene!
And we communicated…
Melanie Hack
Author of Who Killed My Sister, My friend
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If I had any wish…any wish in the world…it would be that no one would ever have to go through what my sister, Cindy James, experienced for seven years and encountered on the day of May 25th, 1989, what my family has endured since and must carry with us the rest of our lives.
Melanie Hack
Author of Who Killed My Sister, My friend
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TV Shows and Clips about the Death of Cindy James
During one autumn the Whitehorse Hospice children’s grief recovery program that I co-facilitated brought raw, painful feelings to the surface…for me, as well as the children. And for me, when combined with an acquisition of a deeper connection with them, I was able to cry for Larry, my brother-in-law who died in 1973, for the first time in over twenty years. I asked my sister, Marlene (his wife), for more details about Larry’s death and as she obliged she also shared what she had gone through so many years earlier—It not only brought us closer together but I also understood the great sorrow she had lived with for so long.
And combined with the not knowing (at that time) about what happened to my sister Cindy when she died, it made me realize I was feeling the same intense sense of loss whenever I left my daughter behind. Every time I left her behind it felt like a reminder of when I was that little girl who lost her brother-in-law so long ago…and I also felt I was abandoning my daughter because my sister Cindy had died and I had “left Cindy behind” when I moved to the Yukon three years before her death.
I shared all this with a Hospice co-worker and her advice was for me to tell my daughter, “I’m going away, but I’ll be back,” every time I had to leave. Hearing the, “I’ll be back,” helped heal the little girl in me plus that part of the woman who had this unresolved grief and fear of somehow abandoning her daughter.
I gained an enormous respect for the necessity of grieving our losses at the time of those losses. The tremendous power of grief can control us for our whole life, if we don’t let it out. Permitting ourselves to grieve our losses allows us to continue growing.
I was so proud of the little children at Hospice as they released their energy through talking and crying and drawing pictures (including the “ugliest” ones they could create), making collages, creating shields, and bringing in favorite photos of the people they lost. They were so courageous and brave to show their grief and to work on their healing. They truly earned both the power rocks and blessing stones they received and the “knighting” ceremony at the end of the program.
This is the reason why part of my life now is devoted to grief and loss and healing…and helping others reach their potential—My personal experiences with death have given me such an understanding and appreciation for the grieving process.
Grieve now. Don’t put it off. Don’t bury it.
It will always come back (or stay with you in the form of ill health and problems) as unfinished business until you work through it and resolve it.
Melanie Hack
Author of Who Killed My Sister, My friend
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