Growing up I was always quite close to my maternal Grandma, named Eva. As a child we looked identical in our toddler pictures, and Grandma Eva would always stroke my hair and call me her “Peachy Pie.” I knew that meant she loved me. Many summers we spent at their weekend cabin built by my Grandpa, near the deserts of California, and often while we were there monarch butterflies would flit about under the big oak tree near the stream. When one would dance around us, Grandma would whisper to me, “Always remember, there goes a free spirit.”

 Fast track about 33 years later. I am no longer living amongst the palm trees of California, but am living in the concrete jungle of New York City, thousands of miles away from Grandma Eva. One drizzly afternoon while walking north on Lexington Avenue I suddenly felt a pain in my heart. I looked up at the street sign, which said 58^th and Lexington Avenue, and also checked my watch, 4:00PM, because I thought I might be having a heart attack. It quickly passed, but I hurried home. A few hours later my Mom called from California. Her opening line was “Grandma Eva passed away today from a heart attack.” I was stunned and said, “What time?” My Mom replied “1:00PM.” Well, if you do the math, the 3 hour time difference means I was feeling a pain in my heart at the same time as Grandma’s passing. Coincidence?

 Exactly 7 days later I was walking north on Lexington Avenue again, this time with a girlfriend. Suddenly I saw a monarch butterfly flit right in front of us…I said to my friend “Did you just see that?” and she exclaimed “Yes!” I looked up at the sign, and there it was, 58^th and Lexington Avenue, the same spot where one week earlier I had felt the pain in my heart, and my Grandma’s passing. Coincidence? I think not. It is extremely rare to see a monarch butterfly in mid-town Manhatten…or in New York City anywhere, actually. In fact, I have never seen a butterfly in the city ever, before that, or after.

 Was Grandma trying to tell me she had become that “Free Spirit” she always pointed out to me, as a child? Was she first reaching out to me in her pain, and then a week later letting me know her joy? I think so. Why is this important? Because in this crazy world that seems so upside down at times, I find comfort in knowing some things never change…the Love between a Grandma and her Grandaughter can transcend time and space and circumstance. The Love between all of us can do the same.

 With those we love it is important to find the common denominators…those things that we will always remember as memories of one another…because I believe it is those little (or big) things that will be used as love notes later….when we need those whispering embraces the most.

 Share the whispers,

love,

Jennifer Avalon

 © 2010 Jennifer Avalon

At age seventeen I crossed over to the “Other Side.” I don’t know exactly how it happened, or why, but it did. One minute I was walking near the edge of a stream, and the next moment I was rapidly going upwards, in a pink cloud, opening up to the Universe, full of stars, but mostly full of Love. I felt a sense of peace beyond description, and knew that this was an emotion that was familiar, like I had felt it before, but not in a long long time. I couldn’t see God, but I could feel Him. His love was all surrounding, all encompassing. And one of His angels stood beside me and told me that we all have a heartlight, pointing to the globe below full of us earthlings. I could see the heartlight glowing in everyone’s chests, like in the pictures of Jesus where you can see the red heart, and the light coming out of it. This experience had a profound effect on my life, and influenced what I am today.

 When I “came back” I was in the stream, clinging to a rock. Did I fall in? I have no recollection. I had to wade waist high back through the flowing current to reach the ground. I was completely wet. I never told anyone until about 16 years later, for fear they would think I was crazy.

 One thing is for sure, to me the “Other Side” is more real than here. The feelings, the emotions, the colors, the knowledge, it’s as if one has been out in the cold, and suddenly walks into a warm cottage with a fire burning in the fireplace, and you’re told that you have finally come home….take your shoes off, sit by the fire, warm yourself…you’re home. No worries, no fear…just love and comfort…the way we all wish Home to be. Heaven is just that….the way we imagine. In fact, it’s far greater, because our human imaginations can’t scratch the surface of what Heaven truly is.

 Though I remember the experience as clear as a ringing bell, I know that everyone is put here on Earth for a reason, and that we don’t get to go back there until it is “our time.” And each of us has a time, decided, I believe, by God and His Angels. We are supposed to complete our tasks here, and then we can move on….

 I am not afraid of Death. Life is what can be scary, because there are people in it who are at different stages of their Soul’s development, and one must always protect themselves against those who choose to “walk on the darkside.” We all choose, every moment of our lives, which path we’re walking on. Once we “cross over” the game is up. We are completely transparent in thought and deed….God sees All. God sees All, all the time anyway, but once we are in His territory, we can see ourselves completely too. Game up!:)

 Our real Home is only a breath away, but we spend our lives acting as if it’s a million miles away. Everyone goes Home someday…make sure you’re in the transparent garments you want God (and yourself) to see….

 Dress wisely,

love,

Jennifer Avalon

© 2010 Jennifer Avalon

As the unemployment rate sputters along the bottom, over and over again we read in the headlines where some are having quite a hard time finding work, while others are being told flat out jobs in their industry are not coming back. Many towns and cities that once had thriving manufacturing centers have lots that have become nothing short of ghost towns. This outcome has been a long time coming, perhaps decades in fact. Then why do many of us still have a look of shock on our faces?

 As the United States and hopefully the world pulls out of this economic downturn, one point we must accept is that the playing field has been changed forever. Why is this important? Because going forward whatever jobs or industries that are created must include the reality that those jobs can’t be exported or downsized. For example, what good is it if a company manufactures a product, hires workers, builds up an infrastructure and then five years later that company moves its operations to places where workers are paid one tenth the price and all the workers are laid off, or severely downsized, at best, until one day it’s “Closed Up Shop” time?

 A friend of mine shared with me a story that I found quite interesting, one I’m sure you’ve heard from time to time. She designed and developed hand knit sweaters to be worn specifically by women. At first her business started slowly, and over time built up quite a clientelle. Many of her products were available at high end department stores across the country, until one day she noticed that the re-order list was beginning to go down. She visited one of the main stores that sold her sweaters. The buyer came out and asked her to accompany her to her office. Once in the office my friend learned that her products were being closely copied and manufactured overseas and sold at a quarter of the price. What many of us know today as “knock-offs.” Not quite the original, but close enough. Before too long my friend ceased operations. If the job recovery involves creating jobs that this can happen to, it is doomed to fail.

 The challenge is to create jobs that cannot be easily duplicated at a lower cost, while at the same time making them accessible to an open world market. I heard the other day a financial expert say there are only three areas that America has that can’t be easily transferred at will. Silicon Valley, Entertainment, and Finance. Yes indeed, offices and subsidiaries can be opened around the world, but these industries are a lot harder to transfer at will. This list must be added to in order for a new economic boom to take hold. Not only in the United States, but around the world. We can’t allow ourselves to so easily become interchangeable parts, or nothing short of work ants.

 There it is, for all the brilliant minds to ponder….The Challenge. Building a moat around the country, bolting the doors, and constructing fences is not going to help us one bit. The world has to be engaged with all forms of uniqueness. Each country has to develop a speciality that only they can do the best. Impossible? I think not. Ever heard of “Swiss chocolates?”

 Face the challenge,

Jennifer Avalon

© 2010 Jennifer Avalon