Excerpt from Chapter 13 – Out of the Shadows.
The first meeting of Susan and Joanne:-
“……….We were a few days into the course and it was April the first- no this is not an April fool joke that I am about to tell, even if it sounds like one. Just before lunchtime we were all sitting in a circle and doing something that needed us to pay attention to the files on our laps. I had started to feel very odd – the tingling all over my scalp radiating down my arms and into my toes was taking my attention away from whatever Diana was telling the group. I suddenly thought that I had had this feeling before – on the night that Ian died when his spirit had visited me at 4am; and also during regression therapy when I felt as though I were floating heavenwards. I started to wonder whether I was about to drop dead. I called across the room to interrupt Diana -
“Err excuse me – I wonder is anyone in the room clairvoyant?” I asked
“Oh my God!” I heard someone say
“Wow” said Diana as she raised her head to look at me across the circle.
“What is it?” I could feel myself starting to grin foolishly and very happily as my tingles continued to warm my whole body in a quite beautiful way.
“Well, I have never seen an angel or anything quite like that before” Diana said in her usual matter of fact way. I always love the way Diana can talk about angelic presence as if it were a loaf of bread. She went onto explain what she could see amongst the nodding heads of agreement from her side of the room.
“It is a massive golden presence all over and above you reaching to the ceiling”
“And there is someone- a figure standing beside it” said a new voice – an Irish voice from Belfast in fact.
“Well there you are, you lucky girl,” said Diana, happily.
“Now, is there anything else we can do for you or are you alright?”
“Err- No I’m perfectly fine- I’ll just sit here and enjoy until you finish!” I grinned; sleepily across at Diana again, knowing that she is on a mission from the angels to get through the material and the odd visit from thirteen-foot energies, from we don’t know where, will not deter her.
I have to say that I was quite content to just sit there for several more minutes with my eyes closed and just “enjoy”. No further words can describe what I felt- but a dose of that feeling, straight into my very soul, every day would go down very well indeed. When the group broke up for lunch I discovered to whom the Irish voice belonged as Joanne Maguire came dashing across the room in a somewhat diffident way. Dashing diffidently is a skill in itself.
“I wonder would you mind – I mean, would you like to know- I mean, if it doesn’t upset you and I am not interfering- I think there is someone who wants to talk to you still here?” she said. Now where had I heard that before?
“Look just sit down and please tell me – no wait a minute- I want to write down everything you say” I was so excited because it could only be Ian who had chosen yet another Irish voice to speak to me – oddly there had been seven years since the last young Irish woman had spoken for him in South West England and now here we were in South West France. I could hardly wait.
Joanne and I did not know anything about each other at the time as the course had not been going for very long- there certainly was no way that she could have known about Ian or his words to me or surprisingly his first words which were
“Say happy birthday to Derek”- I am not even certain if it is correct to put speech marks around a dead man’s speech? What an odd concept.
You may remember that I mentioned how Ian was to prove to have an odd subliminal relationship with my new friends Anne and Derek in France, although they had never met? Here he was again and it was indeed Derek’s birthday. Even more bizarre the previous April first I had thrown a surprise party for Derek’s birthday in celebration of his successfully having recovered from a life threatening illness and it was also Easter day. With the help of my wonderful neighbours we had set out trestles and chairs for 55 people amongst much fun and laughter. I loved such times in our neighbourhood when we all joined together to contribute to a dinner or celebration. Everyone was particularly happy on this occasion, as we were so pleased that Derek had fully recovered. I was so flattered too when I heard Joe, who helped in the garden, overhearing my request to the sky for a sunny day to follow say “But Susan you are our sunshine!” How kind of him to say something so sweet. This retired gentleman is also very in touch with nature and once told me that he hugs trees when he has a sore back. What amazing people one meets in the most unlikely places.
It was a real pleasure shared by us all to prepare for the day ahead. I decided that the tables looked so pretty after all of the work that I took a photograph of the prepared and seemingly empty room.
The next day I escorted the suitably surprised Derek, as guest of honour, into the dining room to select his seat. He chose one half way down the table and settled into to enjoy a good day. When I eventually reproduced the fascinating photograph, taken the night before the party, on my computer screen, the next week – there on that very chair was a distinct presence. What is more -there appeared to be another form sitting behind Derek’s chair on the small wicker settee. I was gob smacked- Derek and Anne were also speechless.
“Well, it must be my guardian angel on the chair and that’ll be Ian sitting behind,” said the normally sceptical and very sensible Derek when he found his voice. Now it was Anne’s and my turn to look at each other in amazement. I later heard Anne talking to her daughter, Alex, in England on the phone “yes of course, she scares us half to death most of the time- but we love her anyway!” Can’t think who she was referring to.{mospagebreak}
Therefore, one year later, on yet another April, Ian was quite correct to wish Derek a happy birthday and he appeared to be proving our previous year’s assumption right – he had been there and managed to get himself onto a photograph too.
Joanne went onto tell me many more things that were obviously from Ian- he mentioned our new grand -daughter and daughter-in-law by name. Niven had not found his own lovely soul mate until five years after his father’s death. How wonderful to know that Ian has seen and approves his son’s choice. He told me how proud he was of both our children and also mentioned a blue car that meant nothing to me at the time. He said that he still had broad shoulders- I took that to mean that he was still supportive when I needed him. I jotted down several other things that were significant to me.
My son rang later in the day to tell me that he had just ordered a new blue car.
The chateau near Beregerac where that first Angel course was held. Le Grand Vignoble.