When my niece was really little she looked across the table at our Aunt Sherri and said, “I can feel the love coming out of your heart and going into my heart.” I’ve also felt this love from (and for) Aunt Sherri ever since I was little, although I didn’t quite have the words to describe the feeling until my niece (Sherri’s great-niece) articulated it this way.
When have you felt love coming from someone else’s heart and going into your heart? Who loved you when you were little? Who loves you forever and ever?
I was recently asked a very beautiful reflection question, which I’ve been holding like a prayer: Who loved you into the person you are today? I am in love with this question, and it does my heart wonders to reflect and respond. When I was first given the question, I instantly thought of my dad. At this time when we are facing so much challenge, when so much strength is being asked of us, I think of my dad who says, You can do it. You can do anything. And I’d do anything for you. I feel the love coming from his heart (over years and miles, over phone lines, and in the present moment) going into my heart.
My continued reflection and response to these love questions come like waves that I could sing into a song …
Who all loved me into the person I am today?
Mother Earth, who grew me and supports me
My Ancient Ancestors, a nature people who blessed every moment
My Great Grandparents, who dreamed of me and held me as a baby
My Grandparents, who crocheted blankets and made dolls for me—each craft a protection prayer and a fertility wish
My Parents, to this day my parents
My Godmother, who writes handwritten notes to me—take care and be strong, she writes
My Fairy Godmother
My Inner Siren calling and responding in song
The Land—the farmland of my childhood, the urban forest of my adulthood, the land of my ancestors
The Sea and Stars, carrying my ancestors, carrying me
The Moon
The Sturgeon in the Lake
The Wind and Sky, breathing with me
The Trees
My beloved relatives—spanning inward and outward, from this instant, present, past, future
My soulmate
My soul friends
My spirit animal
My sister
The children
The chipmunk who lives behind the house
The hummingbird who dances with the pink rose
The Holy Spirit, Mother Father Child, She He They All
Creation
The Living Breathing Earth
Who loved you into the person you are today?
Can you feel the love coming out of their heart and going into your heart?
—Angie Pierce Jennings, Prairiewoods hosted groups and hospitality coordinator