Don’t Wait ~ Make the Call

On Sunday night (February 12, 2012) as my husband and I sat watching the Grammys on television, I was typing a blog on the computer at the same time. While I was typing a thought popped into my head: “Shoot, I need to call Wynne.”

Wynne, also fondly known as Angel Wynne, was a dear friend of mine and had been for 18 years. She was elderly, but as spry and full of life as anyone! She was smart, loving, spiritual, and she could render a room of people breathless from laughter when telling stories of her many adventures in life. She had a wicked sense of humour, and she always made people feel pure joy when in her company.

Wynne shared the same birthday as my daughter, Dale – December 17^th. Never did she miss lighting a white candle when I would go to visit her. She told me that her father taught her to do that: Light a white candle for your visitors to bring love, joy and protection to them.

She loved life. She lived with flair and glamour. She loved her friends and made us all feel like family. She adored her sons and their families. She cut through the drama in life and saw the importance of doing what was right for oneself and for the people they loved. She believed in God, Angels and the power within each of us to do more, to be more, to give more, to have more. She was an avid “student of the Universe” always taking in classes, discussions, and reading books that would broaden her understanding of the meaning of life. In fact, that is how Wynne and I met. We sat down beside one another in a Feng Shui course; our friendship began then and there and spanned nearly two decades.

In December, I spoke with her just before her birthday. She was chatty and full of wisdom. She was motherly and loving on the call, encouraging me to take good care of myself because she knew my husband was very ill. She told me that her and our good friend Lorna, were coming to visit for a few days, likely in May.

When the thought popped into my head on Sunday, it was 8:30 pm. I made a mental note that I better call her on Monday afternoon when I got home from a meeting. When I walked in the door the next afternoon, my husband told me that Lorna had called and really needed to reach me. I stopped in my tracks. I knew. Wynne had died. And I hadn’t made the call.  I know this stuff! I know we shouldn’t put things off with people. I know that what is here today in this moment could be gone in the next – forever! I hadn’t practiced what I preach, pure and simple.

I called Lorna right away and found out that Wynne had been admitted to hospital late Saturday and remained there until she died in the wee hours of the morning on Monday. So had I called, I would have not been able to speak to her and I wouldn’t have known she was in hospital. It would have played out just as it had anyway. Nonetheless, I wished I had called her. I had thought about her several times in recent weeks and didn’t act upon it. Putting that aside, Wynne exited this world in the way she wanted, when she wanted and on her own terms. Knowing that, I do believe my “thought” to call her on Sunday was more of a connection coming from her to me… to let me know she was thinking about me too. That’s the way Wynne was and that’s how our relationship was.

It was fitting for me that she died on what would have been my mom’s 82^nd birthday. It was fitting because when my mom was dying, Wynne came to visit her the day before she passed. In Wynne’s style, she started to tell stories that had us literally holding our sides in laughter. I laughed. My sisters laughed. And our mom laughed. We all laughed until we cried. After Mom died, Wynne spoke to me and was apologetic as though she had been disrespectful telling the funny stories that she had. I told her how much we needed it. It had been three intense weeks with our mom making funeral arrangements and trying to come to terms with losing her. The laughter brought some relief and made us feel ‘normal’ again, even if it was just for a few hours.

So on Monday, after I received the news of her death, I did what Wynne would have done. I lit a white candle for her in an angel candleholder, and beside it I lit a pink one for my mom in an angel candleholder. The flames of their candles flickered and danced together at the edge of my desk while I worked throughout the afternoon – in just the way I imagine they were greeting one another in heaven.

Once again I have been reminded about the fragility of life. Once again I have been reminded that we all have that little voice within us and we need to listen and act upon it. Once again I have been reminded that there is a plan greater than all of us – and once again, I am reminded that there are no coincidences in life and we meet everyone for a reason.  

On the wings of angels, fly my friend fly… God speed Angel Wynne.