07/27/2021
Very Important Friend Yoga,
Hello My Very Important Friend!
Happy Sunday. I am once again so thankful to be sharing my weekly thoughts with you. It is as if each week I leave a key under the mat for you to enter my heart and my head.
I have held on to this story for awhile- so much so, that it had nearly escaped my brain. However, I was recently looking over my photos from January and my memory was suddenly triggered.
I was blessed with a wonderfully kind and caring cousin, Roz Katzman. She took me under her wing when I was growing up and stepped into the giant void in my life of not having an able mother to care for me. I often slept over at her home and she even took me shopping for my very first bra. Roz lived in West Bloomfield and I lived in Windsor but there was never any distance between us.
Rozzie lived a nice long time and had a beautiful immediate family of her own (including her first born, Ronna who is a regular Wednesday evening practitioner). Her capacity to include me as part of that clan was a testament to her huge heart. Rozzie passed away this past January. There was a small graveside funeral during the height of Covid. We were forced to stand or sit far apart from each other. Rebel and I stood away from the group to be able to commune with Rozzie's late husband, Manny, who has been waiting patiently for nearly 23 years for his wife to join him.
After the interment ,without a space to grieve as a family, Rebel and I decided to stop at Kroger's because I love to shop there and check out the manager's specials at each store. As soon as we got home, I started putting my purchases away. A very strange feeling came over me (one which is very rare) that I had the urge to deep-clean my kitchen. My kitchen wasn't dirty or even cluttered (which is also very rare). Since I don't possess the gene-to-clean, I couldn't explain this powerful imperative that overtook me. Nonetheless, I just began reflexively removing appliances off the countertop and searched for a new hidden home for each. I emptied the dish rack and wiped down the cupboards. I swept the floor, even moving the chairs out of the way. At the very end of my project, I looked at my island and realized that my fruit bowl could use a wash. It is really a trifle bowl but has been the centerpiece of my kitchen for the past 27 years, ever since we have lived in our house. I held it up to the light and realized that it needed a second wash. Then, instead of leaving it in the empty dish rack, I used a new tea towel to dry it and make it sparkle. I placed the bowl back in its rightful spot and stood back to admire my work. Then, I had this OMG moment where I realized that Rozzie had given me this bowl for my wedding shower 30 years earlier. I was overwhelmed to feel an almost angelic presence of Rozzie's spirit and the realization that she was there with me at that very moment. Her spirit was sparkling in my kitchen. How is it possible that after my whole kitchen was clean, I then saw the bowl as the last item to complete the job? How is it that I had washed the bowl twice, and didn't leave it to dry but used a new towel to bring it to a polished sparkle? These are things which I never, ever do. I just stood in the kitchen feeling so connected to a spiritual world that was so vast and so potent. I had a direct line to Rozzie's spirit and there could be no doubt as I had created the altar to celebrate and honor that presence. Roz was a 1950's kind of homemaker, so it is totally fitting that we connected through our love of domesticity instead of a through a large gathering.
Today, 6 months later, was Roz's unveiling. It was a beautiful graveside ceremony where her tombstone was revealed. Afterwards, we did get to celebrate as a family and share some wonderful memories. Her spirit lives on and, if I ever need to fine-tune my channel to her, I simply go to my sparkling bowl in the center of my kitchen and smile with her presence.
Perhaps, you have a connection story to share as well with the group at tea time?
Classes are as follows with a time change and only Zoom for Saturday.
Yoga Class sign-in times this week are:
Wednesday, July 28 at 9:00 AM (slow flow) Zoom and in person, outside weather permitting
Wednesday, July 28 at 7 PM (gentle) ( Zoom) (request in person)
Saturday, July 31 at 1 PM PM(slow flow) (Zoom) I will be attending a wedding up north at our regular time.
Classes begin 15 minutes after sign-in time so we can say hello, catch up and make requests.
Please PM me for the details
