There was once a man that was down by a river pondering his life. There appeared a man that spoke to him of many wonderful things to come; he then vanished as quickly as he appeared. Many years later this same man appeared to him to teach him more wonderful things. He asked this familiar person, aren’t you the man that came to me while at the river many years ago? The man’s response was: why don’t you go back there and ask him? A true teacher will not validate or invalidate a person’s experience. It is always up to us to discern what is real to us or not!
I would like to share this phenomenon with you. About two years ago my husband, Joe and I were sitting at our kitchen-Island reminiscing about our late, white German Shepherd Dog, Lobo and how much we missed him. Shortly after that conversation I got up and went to the kitchen sink. When I looked out the window at our large mulberry tree in the back yard, there was a perfect image of Lobo’s face on its trunk. I had to look twice to believe what I was looking at. I then said to Joe, “Come quickly to the window and tell me what you see on the mulberry tree.” In a second of that he said, “Oh my God, It’s an image of Lobo’s face!” Not the image of any white German Shepherd Dog, but it was the exact image of a photo I had taken of Lobo laying by that tree some years ago — The photo I used with a story I had written about him titled, “Divine Messenger.” It wasn’t my imagination; Joe saw the image right away, too. I quickly ran for my camera, but by the time I had gotten back to the tree, the wind came up and totally distorted the perfect image that had been placed there by the sun’s rays coming through the tree’s leaves. I waited for the wind to calm down, but by the time it did, the sun had changed just enough for the image to not reappear. I looked at the clock to see what time it was so maybe I could see the image again the next day – but it never returned.
All day I haven’t been able to get Lily off my mind. I think of her often, and miss her deeply. We shared an incredible fourteen years and some months together. [It will be a year this November 11th since she left us.]
Some time has gone by since Lobo’s passing — Joe and I are sitting at the kitchen-Island once again for a lunch break as Lily’s memory lay strongly on my mind. I cannot tell you why I did this, but within seconds of my intense thoughts of her I looked out at the mulberry tree — and there she was! A huge chill ran up the back of my neck as goose bumps covered my arms. I’m so glad Joe was there again to share this unusual occurrence with me. I said, “Joe, quick, look on the trunk of the mulberry tree. Can you believe what’s there?” He rushed to the window and calmly said, “It’s Lily,” with a quiet tone of voice. I asked myself, “Am I crazy or what?” “Well, then we both are because that’s Lily’s face,” Joe replied back. Once again I hurried for my camera. And this is what I finally captured. Evidently Lily’s spirit-energy was strong enough to allow me at least four photos and then she vanished to a flurry of wind, just as Lobo’s image had done. I checked the time on the clock when it appeared and waited for the next day to possibly see her again – there was just a slight image left, but the average person could never have made it out unless they had seen it the day before.
And just think, Joe and I were there both times to witness the extraordinary likenesses of Lobo and Lily on that mulberry tree. Maybe for only a few minutes, but for both of us, I think was astonishing. There must be something magical about that tree, because my new shepherd, Koda now lies in the very same place as my other shepherds would rest in the hot summer days of Arizona.
The image as we saw it on the mulberry tree, October 24, 2007. When you sit back a bit the image becomes unmistakable.
