This blog is dedicated to my beautiful daughter, Shayna Elayne Smith, who passed from this world in June 2015.
Shayna continues to guide, inspire, push, and prod me. She has shown me signs of her continued and remains a daily presence in my life.
She is my inspiration for the work I do.
Day 2607- English Family Reunion
Today is the English family reunion in Columbus. My mother’s side of the family has had family reunions, religiously, since I can remember. This year’s comes on what is probably the worst weekend of the year for me. I’m behind on preparing for the Trauma Recovery Summit in October. It’s the most work I’ve ever […]
Keep going
Day 2602- A Facebook Memory
One of the things I love most about Facebook is the “today in history” feature, otherwise known as a Facebook memory. Post a picture on Facebook, and on the anniversary of that posting, Facebook will drag it up and put it on your timeline reminding you of what you were doing on this day a […]
Keep going
Day 2594- Bad Dancer
This morning I was in the basement packing orders. I had the music cranked up, discovering some new artists as I let Apple Music curate my playlist. I was dancing around and thought about what a terrible dancer I am. I thought about the time I won a dance contest at a club in Miami […]
Keep going
Day 2587- Signs & Synchronicities
Lately, there have been a lot of signs and synchronistic events. They’re often very small things. Like a few days ago I was out walking thinking about the dogs I often see along my route. I was thinking of one I used to play with just about every morning. He would come to the door […]
Keep goingMy Dream of Uncle Ronnie
In my dream, I was at some sort of a family event. I thought it was a family reunion. And Uncle Ronnie was there. He was about the age he was when he passed two years ago, in his late 70s. He had his bald shaved head and had the gray beard he had for […]
Keep going
Day 2504- Keeping Focused On The Pain
Pain is one of life’s mysteries. Our bodies have evolved to give us this sensation, which we will avoid at all costs. Pain is a warning. It tells us to remove our hands from the hot stove. In fact, our nervous system is built so that you will withdraw your hand before your brain has […]
Keep going
Wordle Magic
My friend, Carolyn Clapper, isn’t just your ordinary medium or medical medium even. Carolyn is off-the-charts good at mediumship and figuring out medical ailments in others. A newly discovered talent is Carolyn can communicate with Shayna to figure out the word of the day in Wordle. It’s not exactly a practical ability. But, for me, […]
Keep going
Day 2444- Mediumship Experiences
People often ask me if mediumship is real. I’ve had enough experiences to know it absolutely is. I always say there are a few classes of mediums: There are great mediums, good mediums, medium mediums, bad mediums, and (of course) fake mediums. Just this week, I sat in a test sitting with a medium that […]
Keep going
Day 2371- Winter Solstice Reflections
Today is December 20, 2021. It’s been a heckuva year. It’s been a brutal two years. We are going into year three of living with COVID-19, named after the year 2019 when it was discovered. Omicron is on the rise having gone from a whisper a couple of weeks ago to 70% of the cases […]
Keep going
Day 2317- In The Dark
It’s October 28th, three days from Halloween. The leaves are turning. The days are growing short. There is a chill in the air. I’ve put away the shorts and t-shirts. It’s long sleeves and jeans for a few months. This is the time of year when I struggled in the past. I hate the cold. […]
Keep going
Day 2270- Shayna’s Stars 5-½ Anniversary Walk
This weekend is the twentieth anniversary of 09/11. Kayla was four years old. Shayna was not even one. I was grateful that I didn’t have to explain any of what happened to the girls. But, I didn’t know at the time they would both grow up in the shadow of an event that shapes our […]
Keep going
Day 2260- Kayla Crosses (A) Finish Line
Twenty years. For the first time in twenty years, we don’t have a child going back to school this fall. It all started with Kayla starting school just before she turned five years old. In April, she received her Master’s in Mental Health Counseling from the University of Cincinnati (UC). We thought her educational journey […]
Keep going
Day 2241- Mama Said There’d Be Days Like This
It’s Friday! Friday is supposed to be a good day, the end of the week, the beginning of the weekend. But, today is hitting me as a glass half full day. Today is also Friday the 13th (of August). I take my walk for an hour and forty minutes. A walk is always a great […]
Keep going
Day 2190- Juneteenth- Freedom Day
Juneteenth was Saturday, Father’s Day and the summer solstice was Sunday. It was a big, big weekend. For the first time since 2019, we headed up to Columbus to see the entire family. I hadn’t seen Brandon or Bridget since 2019. Brent, I had seen twice, socially distanced. My parents, I had not seen since […]
Keep going