I learned two of my friends had a connection to my story
Early on I had a dear friend in town that stayed the night with me. I had just begun processing what I had found and shared a little bit with him. He listened and comforted me with his words. Several months later, on Father’s Day, we talked about our fathers and our loss. At that time he confided in me one of his family secrets and again, I realized I was not alone. He has chosen to wait until the book’s release before reading the entire story.
Sensing my turmoil, another friend offered to take me to lunch. She wanted to make sure I was alright and was curious as to what had been causing of my dark mood. The time felt right and I was comfortable sharing my story with her. However, before I had gone very far into my tale, she shared with me something that had happened within her family. It was an event that connected us.
A few days later, I gave her the early draft of my book to read. I love that she devoured it. She could practically recite back to me the stories within the letters. And she could see the overwhelming love between my parents and how they protected me.
Two of the five people that I shared my story with had something similar happen within their families. It was then I realized the importance of telling this story in hopes it would help others to unburdened themselves from whatever family secrets they may have been holding inside.
I am honored to serve on the Board of Directors for an amazing non-profit organization. With the book in the works, I felt I needed to talk with the executive director and make him aware of my story. I didn’t think there would be any negative repercussions from the release of my book, but still I offered to rotate off the board if he felt that would be best.
We met in his office after a bi-monthly board meeting. That day I chose to wear my favorite pair of red pants with a purple polo shirt. It was almost like I glowed in the dark. I began telling him my story mentioning the psychic and what she said about my grandmother and mother. You may recall from my earlier blog that she had described a woman with “perfectly coiffed hair.” When I said that phrase, he looked at me and asked if I believed in deja vu. I told him that I did and asked why. He said: “First, have I seen you in this outfit before?” I told him no, or at least not the combination of red and purple. He went on to tell me that as soon as I said “perfectly coiffed hair” he felt we had had this conversation before and I was as colorfully dressed then as I was now. Once the goosebumps went away, he went on to tell me that he supported me 100% and to not even think about resigning from the board.
J. Ronald M. York, author of Kept in the Dark, is also an accomplished musician and founder of York & Friends Fine Art Gallery.
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