Unexpected Message

One thing that I hope never gets old about doing this work is the amazement I feel each and every time I connect with Spirit. Last week my family went to the South Carolina coast for a week, and I spent part of each day sitting in a beach chair at the edge of the water, meditating on the rhythm of the waves rolling in and out. 

My dad was on my mind a lot. I recently learned that my parents had planned a trip for our family to drive to Florida and camp on the beach the summer I turned 9, but that trip never happened because my father passed away a few weeks before we were set to leave. He grew up in Miami so I always associate the beach with him, even though I never had the opportunity to visit one with him.

On June 16th, the 36th anniversary of his death, I was connecting with him while I watched the waves and I asked him to send me a dolphin. Just one would be enough. I told him I just really need that dolphin to know that you are with me. I scanned the horizon, looking and hoping, but nothing. I was feeling a little defeated, if I’m honest. What kind of medium am I if I can’t solicit a sign from my own dad?

We went on with our day, and that evening Justin put on these mini documentaries made for Vans by Weird Waves about unusual places to go surfing. (They are great, I highly recommend checking them out on YouTube.) There was a scene at the end of the episode Tanker Surfing when the host was surfing with a friend and they were scattering another friend’s ashes in the sea. As they were riding along on their boards, a dolphin leapt out of the waves, right beside them. 

I burst into tears. There was my sign.

And that’s the thing. Signs don’t always come to us in the way that we expect or ask for. They come in the ways that we will most likely see and recognize them. 

Thanks, Daddy. I got your message.