REMEMBERING EVAN (#17) AND EMILY (#8) - ALWAYS AND IN MANY WAYS
 
It has been a real pleasure to become friends with Laurie Thomas and it is great news that she is coming to visit us in Vernon, BC and will be attending the Last Breath event at the end of this month.
 
Laurie posted a lovely note to help promote the important Last Breath event in Vernon, BC.

"Last week in Toronto, I spent some time with a good friend Sherman Dahl and unfortunately, we share common ground. He and I belong to this club we never signed up for and has forever changed our paths in life - the loss of a child. I booked my flight today & bought my ticket to this event:

I wanted to share, and I encourage anyone in Vernon/Kelowna area to buy a ticket because you WILL NOT REGRET doing so.
  
I am really looking forward to the evening and hearing Chris Lemons speak about his "Last Breath" and diving accident in 2012."
 
Laurie and Sherman met through a mutual friend, Dev Randhawa.
 
In a true act of kindness, Dev introduced us as he knew we were both suffering a similar loss.
 
We have stayed in touch and grown closer with every visit. This helps us both.
 
Laurie said this to me just last week when we once again met at a mining conference in Toronto:
 
"Sherm, we meet people for a reason."
 
Well, this is certainly true for me and Laurie. We met not long after Evan and Emily passed away.
 
Evan died on April 6, 2018, and Emily died January 26, 2019.
 
Both of us have had to meditate deeply on death, and we have done some of this work together.
 
Is there a way to deal with the death of a loved one? In particular, how can a parent deal with the loss of a child? Is there a way to take the gloominess away?
 
Well known Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh often suggested to visualize a cloud in the sky. Maybe one part of the cloud has become rain; half of the cloud remains in the same form and half has taken a different one. And you cannot say that the rain is less beautiful than the cloud, or the cloud is less beautiful than the rain. They can both be beautiful.
 
When you live with your beloved one, be aware that he or she is a kind of cloud. You are also a kind of cloud and are not entirely here in this body, because every day you produce thoughts, speech, and action which continue independently of you.
 
So, we are like a cloud in the sky: every day it can produce rain or snow or hail. We can see the continuation of the cloud, even if it is still there in the sky.
 
Human beings produce thoughts, speech, and action every day. And that is our continuation. We must meditate in order to see ourselves not only in our bodies, but also outside of them.
 
In this way, you can see yourself not only in this body; you can see yourself in your friends, in your loved ones, in your work, in many things. And if you want to recognize yourself, don’t look only look in one direction; this body is only a small part of who you are.
 
So, the person that you believe is already lost is not lost; he or she is still there in other forms. Look inside yourself, look in your children. That person is still available in the here and now. That is how we see Emily and Evan every moment of every day. It is possible to think this way and it can be wonderful.
 
Sometimes your loved one can hide himself or herself and take another form, so that you will know better how to cherish their presence.
 
The meditation on death is a very important meditation. When you meditate on death, you love life more, you cherish life more. We can learn many lessons from it.
 
Mindfulness allows us to recognize and cherish and treasure what is still available, so that in the future we won’t say, “While the person was alive, I was not aware of their precious presence”.
 
That is why it is so important to go home to the here and now and recognize and cherish the positive elements that are still available.
 
I am so excited that Laurie Thomas is coming to the Last Breath event which is being brought to the Vernon Performing Arts Centre by The Emily Dahl Foundation and Vernon Hospice Society.
 
Come join us and Chris Lemons at the Last Breath event in Vernon on November 29, 2022.  You can purchase your tickets at Ticketseller.ca
  
Sherman Dahl
The Emily Dahl Foundation