It’s my birthday weekend. My birthday is always right around Memorial Day weekend. This year it’s on the Saturday. I wonder if Shayna will show up with any signs. Tywana and I are standing in the kitchen on Sunday when the bluetooth speaker on the kitchen counter just starts playing music. I use the speaker with my Amazon Echo, but the Echo hasn’t been playing through this speaker in at least a week. I have no idea why it’s playing or what it’s playing. I say “Alexa turn off bluetooth” and Alexa says “Hmmm…. there’s no bluetooth device to disconnect…” So, it’s not coming through the Alexa. My phone is in my pocket. It’s at least a couple of steps to connect it to the bluetooth speaker and I haven’t even touched it. I walk over to the speaker and manually turn it off. That’s weird. A few days ago I was on a conference call in my office and heard faint music coming from upstairs. It’s not unusual that my phone will randomly connect to the speaker in our master bathroom. So, I assume the music is coming from that speaker. But, I haven’t been playing music on my phone which is laying on my desk. When I finish the call and go upstairs, I find the Alexa in the bedroom, not the speaker in the bathroom, is playing some random music. It’s not connected to my phone. No one has been up there to give Alexa a command to play music. Tywana’s not even home. I say “Alexa stop the music” and she dutifully does. Is Shayna learning new skills? Is she learning to turn on and off the speakers?
On Monday, we’re heading to Columbus to Brianna’s graduation party. I really, really don’t want to go. I’m not keen on parties anyway and graduation parties, especially this year, are to be avoided. But, Kayla is coming down from Toledo and Tywana wants to go. A couple of days ago I re-listeneed to the reading Thomas John gave me back in March and he asked me if a graduation was coming up. I told him this would be Shayna’s senior year so a lot of graduation festivities are coming up. He says I’m thinking about going. I tell him I’m actually thinking about not going. He tells me that Shayna says I should go. This was two months ago. He says, maybe not go to all of the activities, but participate in some way. These are almost the exact same words my brother, Brianna’s father, texted to me late last week when he asked me if I’m planning to attend the graduation on Saturday or the party on Monday. Damn! I guess I have to go.
When I step out of the bedroom on Monday morning, I look down and there is a quarter laying in the hallway just outside our bedroom door. I think back to the night before. We didn’t go out on Sunday. So, I didn’t get change anywhere. I rarely have change in my pocket. I didn’t have any on Sunday. I’m sure of that. I know that quarter wasn’t laying there when we went to bed. One of us would have noticed it. I pick it up and look at it. I say to Shayna “You know our sign is dimes.” I wonder if this is a sign. There is a change jar we keep right next to the bedroom. But, how did the quarter get here, since we went to bed? I lay the quarter back down for Tywana to find when she gets up. On my walk, I’m listening to Suzanne Giesemann and Susanne Wilson on a podcast where they are discussing synchronicities and how we tend to minimize them. I think back to some of the signs Shayna has given me. I say to Shayna “Maybe you gave me a quarter because you wanted to go big for my birthday weekend. Thank you, sweetie.” Later in the car when I discuss the quarter with Tywana, after we both confirm there is no way that quarter was there the night before, she asks me if I checked the date on the quarter. I never thought to. She tells me it was 2015, the year Shayna crossed into spirit. All right! I’m going to the party
