The Soul's Mission

This summer has gone by so quickly that I can't believe that the boys will start their new school so soon!!! We're excited for them to start their next phase at St Rita's Catholic School for middle school. It's a great school, really friendly faculty and it's right next door to Jesuit High School. 

As we've been busy getting the boys prepared for the "next level" we've also been spending lots of time having fun with Dori as much as we can this summer. At times I get sad comparing all the neat milestones and new adventures the boys are experiencing and wishing Dori could have a chance to do all that and more. 

But today like most Sunday's, if I'm not teaching Sunday school then I'm sprawled out on the couch watching Oprah's show Super Soul Sunday. She has spiritual leaders, life coaches, yoga/meditation experts from all walks of life and all ends of the spiritual/religious spectrum. Since Chris and the big boys are gone in Nebraska for a golf tournament this weekend I binged on 3 episodes while hanging out with Dori. 

Today she had a guy who's name I don't remember and whose book she accredits for completely changing her life. He is an expert at the concept of being true & joyful by tapping into your soul's purpose. What really caught my attention was when he talked face to face with a Mother who had twin sons. One of them survived and grew to be healthy & strong. The other twin died only four days after birth. She was having a hard time accepting his death and felt how unfair the death of her son was to her and to their entire family because the pain of the loss was on some days unbearable. 

He looked with his kind eyes right at her and said (I'm paraphrasing) "Your son's soul served its purpose. Even if he only lived for four days, his soul willfully came to this earth and was loved and cherished. Then his soul willfully left this earth after serving its desired purpose. You can't look at your other son as he grows up and think 'my other son should be here graduating too. My other son should be going off to college too. My other son should be getting married and starting a family too.' Why? Because when you do that you're not fully enjoying what your healthy son is accomplishing, and your inadvertently belittling the short time your son was with you. He served his purpose by loving you. He served his purpose by feeling your love and will forever be a part of your family. You are forever changed because his soul successfully is a part of yours and all who loved him.  Focus on THAT accomplishment, focus on what he did not what he never became. His soul did exactly what it intended to do." 

Well as you can imagine I was a crying mess listening to this. While he spoke I chose to close my eyes so I could feel like he was directly talking to me. 

His words were so life affirming, so direct and so comforting. Dori and Wynnie are living their purpose. Their short lives have brought so much love and joy to us that I can just burst of pride. The innocence in their eyes, the sincerity in their smiles and the sweetness of their gestures are beyond description. Their souls weren't made to graduate from Harvard, get married or find the cure for cancer--- their souls are leaving their own legacy. 

I'm so glad I watched that today. There's nothing that could have resonated more strongly with me than that!  We're so proud of ALL our sons and the world they are creating for themselves. Each has their own purpose and their own path. 

Here are some pictures from the past few days: 

Dori after swim time this afternoon 

Smooching on Dori... He didn't seem to mind. 

A couple of weeks ago the boys made memory boxes with our hospice Child Life Specialist. Alex wrote a lot on his box describing all of Wynnie's favorite things. He was really careful and took a lot of pride about making it just perfect.  Ben covered his lid with dozens of hearts. I made a comment like "wow I like all the  hearts you used Ben, it's neat!" He said "I used a lot of hearts to show how much I loved him." 

My kids are my heroes!