“THE SOUND OF ANGELS”
“Shhh shhh shhh now, now, it will be okay.” I heard it from when I was very young, crying as I showed my scraped knee or the bump on my head to my Mom. “Shhh shhh shhh settle down and breath deep, now tell me why your upset” she said as she tightly hugged me and stroked my hair. Why is this sound so soothing that it made the tears dry and the hurt go away? It was like magic and Mom knew that it was what I needed to soothe my emotions.
When the shadows of the boogie man danced around in my room at night and I screamed for Mom, “Shhh shhh” was the calm to settle my fright and take me into dreamland.
With an older brother and younger sister I often felt the odd one out in the middle. With tears, I would yell out my frustrations to Mom and gently the “Shhh shhh” from her lips would bring in the balance I needed.
As I matured into my teens the need for the “Shhh shhh” became less frequent but still needed from time to time. I was a hard son for a Father to have and at times Dad and I were in different corners, pulling in opposite directions. “I never want to talk to him as long as I live” I screamed at Mom with sobs and snickers, “Shhh shhh” was the only thing to settle my spirit.
As I became an adult the need arose from time to time for a long distance “Shhh shhh” from Mom over the phone. But I could always count on it calming the storm I was fighting. I could always count on the abundance of the “Shhh shhh” from Mom as the years went by.
In the last few days of my Mothers life I found myself offering her the sound she had calmed all my storms with. “Shhh shhh” “Mom its okay I'm here, shhh shhh”. It was my last offering to Mom as she left this world and I'm certain it's the first sound she heard as she was greeted by the angels of heaven.
“Shhh shhh Mom, I'll be okay!”
Sharing the Journey
Cha'