The Past, The Present and the Connections we must observe

Sometimes we are often reminded in many ways of times past and poor decisions we have made right alongside some of the best decisions of our lives.

On this day, I am reminded of many choices and today is an odd day. At 2:30 am we were awakened by the alarms going off in the house and Bob and I jumped out of bed thinking it was the weather radio and it was screaming "severe weather alert" and in our sleep induced haze we ran out the bedroom door and were greeted by two crying little girls. We quickly realized that the words ringing out were all the alarms in the house saying "Warning - Carbon Monoxide"......

We flung open the doors and and we all waited outside for the alarms to go off and then turned off what we thought was the source and headed back to bed to only be woken again in 10 minutes by the same blaring alarms.

This prompted a call to 911 and then the familiar vision of fire trucks ablaze coming down the driveway - dejavu......

They sourced the leak to the gas fireplace in our bedroom....It was a good decision to put alarms in when the house was rebuilt, a very good decision. Our children could be orphans this morning had we not made that decision. It scared me to think of the lives that would be forever changed if something happened to Bob and I.

I then open my email this morning to a friend request on Facebook from my Brother, whom I have not heard from in 10 years. Amazingly enough, he is an artist and a pretty good one. The day that I said goodbye to him was the first day of missing him and I searched for him since and then wonders of Social Networking Sites come to play. We even share the same favorite movie - not surprised... I have alot to tell him. Our Step Dad has died, I have had two children and 3 Grandchildren, I have lived through a tornado and I am living my life's dream and I am happy. What is he doing now, what has he painted on his life's canvas but most importantly, is he happy?

There is more to the story that I don't think I can capture in words but will do my best. I had a dear friend that died from alcoholism and one of her favorite terms was "Soul Garden". She referred to hers often as well as others and I always loved the term. Well, a much admired Jewelry artist had developed a series called "Soul Garden" and they were necklaces of such beauty that I wanted to get one to commemorate Carol's memory. I tried and tried for a long time to obtain one and they flew from her store before I could ever get one. Well, I finally got one (thank you Jillian) and here is a pic of it:

There is a huge connection here, a piece to commemorate my friend (that arrived in my mailbox yesterday) that dated my Brother, that contacts me after 10 years the day after it arrives and a close call with Death myself. What is the message....? Should I read this even further or chalk it up to coincidence? I think not....

We are all attached in so many ways - 3 degrees of separation. A fine silver cord, a memory, an incident that brings us back. Connections on so many levels and so many degrees, we all get what we need when we need it and not a moment sooner.