Recently, death has been in my face. Ten days ago, I noticed that my neighbours’ keys were in still in his lock, when I walked by his door. I knocked and called to him. When he didn’t answer, I made sure the door was unlocked and slipped the keys through his mail slot. I texted him to let him know what I’d done. No reply. I thought, “Well, it’s embarrassing to do something like that – why would I think he’d reply?” I texted him the next morning “How are you doing?” No reply. That’s when I knew. I told the building and they called the emergency numbers that he gave when he moved in, 11 years ago. They were both out of service. This made me remember that I gave my Dad’s number and he has died since I moved in here.
The building called the police and the police came to confirm that he was dead. Another neighbour said to me “I really thought you were over reacting”. That made me laugh.
On the same day that they confirmed his death, I had called the home of my remarkable ND, Kenn Luby. He was semi-retired and I wanted a referral for a friend to a specialist. His partner picked up as I was leaving a message to tell me the sad news that he had died a month ago. I was shocked and both of us cried as I had my own reaction and tried to comfort him in his loss. It was a very sweet conversation. It was a meeting of our hearts as we felt the pain of this profound loss. I feel like I may call back to check in on him.
The very next evening, my friend texted to say that he was in the emergency vet clinic with his 14 year old cat. I’ve been auntie to his adorable cat for almost a decade and I asked him to call or text me and I’d join him for support, anytime. Then, I slept though his call! I felt like a very bad friend! At 6 am, we had a socially distanced visit in the lobby of our building. There were more tears.
At the time of this writing, my friend has adopted an adorable new adult cat. The relatives are cleaning out my neighbours apartment and we are waiting for the coroners report to find out why he died. There will be a new neighbour, soon. And, I started with a new ND, yesterday. Life does go on after death, for those of us left behind. Not easily, but we do have a choice to move on.
I’ve also been re-considering the future of Spoken Lives. I loved what we created at our live events and have struggled to replicate that feeling online. We quickly moved to monthly events during the lock down to give people a way to stay connected with our mission: to share real stories of the ups and downs of this luscious life. Our Night Cap Chats help establish connections at the end of our evenings. I’m proud of what we’ve created, given the constraints.
In 2019, we hosted the Silver Linings Gala. It was a magical evening with 150 people celebrating the first 100 speakers of Spoken Lives. Many of you were there. This year, we’ve moved the magic online.
Our Silver Linings Summit is from November 19-22. We’ll celebrate the speakers of 2020. Many of our speakers have gone on to share their stories on other stages: Speaker Slam to TedX. Often, Spoken Lives is the first time they have had a stage to share their story. It’s satisfying to hear that they got to share it again. There are four evenings to celebrate these four aspects of life in November: Our Head, Heart, Physical and Future Lives. There are 8 workshops in total and 4 Night Cap Chats.
We’re celebrating 5 years of this passion project. Our dear sponsors pay the bills and there’s little leftover. There are so many details to be done on this digital platform that I need to pay for support. Is this the end of Spoken Lives? Or, the beginning of something new? I don’t honestly know. You support will make the difference and write our future.
We’ll host this Summit to find out if there’s an appetite for it online. Please spread the word to your Silver Linings Sisters in other cities and countries? There are no physical boundaries with this online forum. There will be stories and experts prepared to share their best tips and stories. You will laugh in recognition, learn a few things and maybe shed a tear. Then, we’ll host our Night Cap Chat to share what we learned in small groups. It will be a safe and gentle place to be from November 19-22 (7:00 – 9:00).
Invite your friends and family. You need to buy tickets one at a time, so that you get the Big Bonus Bundle of downloads provided by our friends and experts. Tell your Silver Linings Sisters about this great event?
Please support the Silver Linings Summit to wrap up this year with a bang. Buy a ticket. Ask a friend to buy a ticket. Promote it on your social media. Support Spoken Lives. We’re at a crossroads and it is important to know if the support is there to move forward, digitally. Thank you.
