Happy Birthday Cindy Love. You turn 61 today and are in Heaven Seven, as you used to call it.  You loved your Birthdays and thought about them, and everyone else’s birth day all year.

I wonder what sort of day you’ll have today.  You used to start with breakfast in bed, fruit and Crystal Light.  When you finally came upstairs, (you were never in a hurry)  you gave and received lots of hugs and love from everybody.  You would eat some ‘official’ breakfast and then take your hour shower.  You lingered in the shower every single day.  That was a beautiful ritual for you, languishing in self-care and warmth.   You would put cream on every part of your incredibly already soft skin, and powder too.  Then the act of deciding what to wear and getting dressed was a process of total indulgence.

Finally when you were completely ready you came upstairs smelling so sweet, soft and very content. Such simple needs and pleasures you had.  It was so beautiful.

I miss you.  I miss your softness and your tenderness and the way you loved so innocently.  I miss your profound kindness and how I felt capable of pure love when I was with you.  I loved how unique and special you were, and how predictable.  You were the same from one moment to the next and one day to the next.  You were you and you were love.

I had many regrets after you died for the things I did not do with you when you were alive.  I prayed for your forgiveness for my selfishness and now I know you never wanted or needed an apology.   You were so wise in your simplicity.

I don’t really believe you went to Heaven Seven when you stopped breathing.  I think your whole life was lived in Heaven Seven and your purpose was to show the rest of us what life could actually be like if we allowed our selves to love and be loved  as you did.  I am finally learning this and my life is so much more beautiful and fulfilled than it ever was before.

Today I will celebrate the love you were and continue to be.  I will allow my self to embody the lessons of love you shared through your gift of being. I will hold with love and kindness this precious day and be a beacon of light to help illuminate the way for others as you did every moment of your life.  Though I am a beginner on this journey I know my feet are on the path, tenderly taking steps to move towards your light and your love.

Happy Birth Day Cindy Love.  May your being light this world in unexpected ways teaching all of us how to let love be our teacher and our light.