Let’s try…
I sent out my weekly email on this morning and I got A LOT of comments, so I wanted to add to this a little bit and publish it here for my weekly blog. The fitness industry is an interesting thing. The industry preys upon …
Author: peggielarsen
Rest In Peace Mike
An old friend died today (April 10, 2018).
Mike died today.
I’ve known him since Kindergarten. A tiny, blond haired boy with glasses. I remember thinking his hair was as blond as mine. I liked that. Mike was the sweetest of boys. So kind-hearted. So friendly. So nice. He never changed. He was always like that all through high school. Mike was raised around girls and he knew how to be nice to girls. He wouldn’t hurt a fly. He was like a brother to me. He was just so easy to like. He was nice to everybody.
We meet people for a reason and people come back into our lives for a reason. Mike and I were good friends after high school. I even used him as a reference for a job. I hadn’t seen Mike or talked to him much after that, in person anyway. We were friends on Facebook and messaged back and forth once in a while.
The thing is, we don’t know what is going to happen with our lives. We only know there is a plan. God does have a plan for each and every one of us. We don’t know the reason why some things happen. We see the thread, weaving it’s way through the story of our lives. Part of Mike’s plan was cancer. That thread was cancer.
A few years ago, Mike’s sister, Nikki, came into my life. I loved her just as much as I loved Mike. Just as kind-hearted, just as nice. Just as friendly. Just as special. I believe the reason for Nikki coming into my life was so I could reconnect with Mike. Mike was our common thread.
I knew each member of the Hawkins family. Kim was a year older. Mike was my age. Then there was Rise, Amy, Nikki and the baby, Sarah. Their grandma lived by Lincoln School. The grade school Mike and I attended. The Hawkins blondies were there a lot playing outside. Their grandma was the sweetest little lady. She used to come into Sooper Dooper when I worked there through high school. Again, Mike was the common thread.
Our dads went to school together. Same high school as all of us.
I sent Mike a Facebook message, the last message, on March 31st. I knew he wasn’t doing well. Nikki had told me she was heading down to be with him.
“I just wanted you to know that I am thinking of you and have been praying for you constantly. I pray for peace and comfort. Know that I love you and appreciate your friendship! Hugs to you dear friend.” I knew it was coming to the end for him. I knew it wasn’t going to be long. I wanted him to stop suffering. I wanted him to feel better. It wasn’t in the plan. This was a dark thread in Mike’s journey.
Nikki texted me today (April 10th) and told me Mike went home. I knew it. My intuition had him constantly on my mind. I had a feeling it was today. I knew it was today. I just knew. He is not suffering anymore. He is in a better place. Nikki told me he never complained. I totally believe that. So like him.
I was looking through some of the Facebook posts from classmates and everyone posted about his smile, or how kind he was. He always had a kind word or asked how they were. I looked at his Facebook page and there were many posts from his co-workers. People talked about how many hearts he has touched and how much they will miss him. He will definitely be missed.
Mike can see the quilt now. It’s not just threads here and there anymore. He knows the reason. He knows.
Rest In Peace Mike Hawkins. I will miss you my friend.
Life is short. Live accordingly.
I had to jump
The day was like any other. It was summer. It was the Euclid house. My brother and I were playing, like usual. We had a babysitter, like usual. We were doing stuff we weren’t supposed to, like usual. It was the blue house, just two …
I heard a whisper…
Today’s blog post was inspired by a Facebook post from a friend…thanks Ronn.
Call it a whisper. Call it your inner voice. Call it a gut feeling. Call it a hunch. Call it fate. Call it God. Whatever you want to call it, it is telling you something. It is telling you to listen. It is telling you to take action, or not take action. It is telling you. It is warning you. Intuition. Your intuition is the unexplained feeling that something is true, even when you have no evidence or proof of it. Your intuition tells you when something is wrong or when something is about to happen. How many times have you said to yourself, “I knew that was going to happen” or “I should have listened to my gut.”
It happens to me all the time. However, I never used to listen enough. I knew it was there. I think I just didn’t want to listen. From the time I was in my late 20s, periodically, I would get a “bad feeling.” This usually meant that something not good was about to happen or had happened. It happened when my uncle died. It happened when a friend got a DUI. It happened when there were near misses when my husband avoided car accidents. It is kind of scary to have these feelings. It is kind of scary to know that you can feel or tell or hear when something bad happens. Not that we can really do anything about it, because really, our life is already planned. God has us covered.
Sometimes the feeling is so overwhelming it takes over. Everything feels kind of warm and kind of weird. Almost every time, the tears flow. I can’t help it. It is that overpowering. It lasts anywhere from 5 minutes to 30 minutes. Sometimes I can’t shake the feeling for a few days. More often than not, it involves someone close to me. Sometimes I don’t know what happened or if anything happened at all. Maybe that means it is someone I am not super familiar with. I have no idea. It is quite interesting though. I’m not quite sure I want to cultivate it just yet.
A couple weeks ago I had an appointment in Rapid, and I left early in the morning, taking the back way, which is usually filled with wildlife. Anyway, the day before I kept “seeing” in my head, visions of deer. It happened several times that day and even the morning I left. I listened that day. I was extra cautious. If I would not have been paying attention, I would have hit deer in several places along the way. Places where I usually don’t see deer. Places where they seemed to come out of nowhere. I was ready though, because I listened. I was thankful I listened. I was grateful I listened.
Do we all have this inner voice, or do some of us just listen more? I think we all can listen to ourselves more and trust our inner voice or our gut feelings more. I like to call it trusting my faith, guardian angels and God.
Do you listen to your gut or your inner voice? If you want to learn to listen more there are things you can do to help foster your intuition. You can start journaling. Try your hand at the surge of consciousness exercise. Begin with a prompt such as “What is the best decision? or “What do I need to know? Start writing what pops into your head. Just do it. Don’t wonder why, don’t think about it. Just write it. A few days later you can go back and read it, now with a more objective perspective. See what it means to you then.
You can also use meditation. Meditation clears your mind of crazy thoughts, worries and overthinking. It helps you to tune in. It helps you dig deeper into your feelings. Even 5 to 10 minutes can make a difference. Pay attention to any interesting, or what you perceive to be odd, thoughts that may arise after your meditation.
Try getting creative. Draw a picture. Paint something or start writing. Get lost in the activity and feel free of any distractions or worries. This is pretty similar to meditating. During this time, you mind is receptive to awareness and ideas or insights. Creativity provides an outlet for your to express emotions you otherwise would be aware of.
When I was researching things to help foster your intuition, I realized that the things I listed are things that I started doing within the last year and a half or so. Not realizing that I was helping this process. Not realizing that I was moving towards understanding my intuition more. Not realizing that I was moving towards a closer relationship with the spirit world, with guardian angels and with God.
The next time you hear that voice, or you see that vision, or you just feel something in your gut, stop and really listen. Hear it. Feel it. Use it. Be grateful for it.
Kid Friends – Branch and Peggie
It was the Euclid house. His house was the Oak house. We played together all the time. I spent a lot of time at his house. His name was Branch Wolf. Is that not the coolest name ever? He was in my grade. I just …
The slow walk home…
We lived in the Euclid house. The elementary school was Lincoln. It was on Prospect Street. The school was about five blocks from home, almost all uphill. Up Central, up to the fountain on Broadway, and the weird connection of streets to the fountain, up …
The Sooper Dooper Chronicles – chapter 5 – the co-workers
Chapter 5 – the co-workers
I started working at Sooper Dooper when I was a sophomore in high school.
The paths of our lives are interesting don’t you think? I believe it is not in our hands, but up above. The life changers happen because they are supposed to happen. You meet people because you are supposed to meet people. You have good times and bad times because you are supposed to have good times and bad times. Life is challenging and life is rewarding and life is hard and life is beautiful. I don’t think life is ever easy.
The people at Sooper Dooper were amazing. Mr. Palmer and Billy Palmer – the owners. Kurt Dixon, Marvin Engelhaupt, Frank Denton, Charlotte Hiller, Pat Palmer, Lorraine Ebach, Randy Vermundson and Deb Sorenson – the day people. Dale Smith, Jessie Hall, Marlys Nellermoe (love her!!), Andy Deis, Irene Henrichson and Don Cleland – the night people. Art – the baker.
Chet Murray, John Pohlman, Sam Gilkerson, Sarah Gilkerson, Angela Schweigert, Brad Powell, Thane Badger, my sisters Wendy and Sherry, Tim Cleland, John Bren, Sheldon Suiter, Steve Oliva – the high schoolers.
When we got to work we punched in on the clock and punched out when we were done. The carry out guys grabbed the white apron and wore it during their shift. They also had to sweep and mop the whole store before closing time. The checkers had it pretty easy. We restocked the smokes and rearranged the candy boxes. The carry out guys also had to make sure the pop and beer coolers were full too.
I remember one summer while stocking shelves. It was a wicked one. First we unloaded the boxes from the truck and then separated them into piles according to the aisles. I stocked the baby food aisle. I had my cart and my boxes and box cutter in hand. I was stocking baby food. I got to one box and sliced open the short end with my trusty box cutter and then the long end. As I picked up the cardboard and opened the box fully, I couldn’t believe what I saw. There were a few broken jars of baby food in the box. No big deal. Except it was a big deal, because the broken jars had obviously been there a while. The whole box was full of maggots. I about died. I was so disgusted. I can’t even remember what I did next. I wanted to die. I have this thing about maggots. See, my cousin chased me with a stick covered with maggots. She got the maggots from a dead cow on the farm. I think that is where I learned to run fast. EWWWWWWW!!!!
Each and every one of the people I worked with impacted my life. Each and every one of those people taught me something about life. They taught me something. I’m sure I am forgetting some people and that makes me sad. But, it has been a long, long time ago.
One of the life changers in store for me was meeting my first husband, Steve. I met him at Sooper Dooper. We dated for many years and then married. The marriage didn’t last, but I wouldn’t change anything. I have three beautiful children. I can’t imagine not having them. The three are life changers for sure. Challenging and rewarding and hard and beautiful. Never easy!
Sooper Dooper had a huge impact on my life. Sooper Dooper changed my life in so many ways. Sooper Dooper allowed me to work with and meet the most amazing people. Sooper Dooper will always be a part of my life. I will always, always, always remember my years there.
Listening for the significance
I’m sitting here alone. The noise is the wind and a cardboard box unfolding ever so slowly. I’m not playing any music. I’m alone with my thoughts. I’m alone listening. I have so many things to do, yet I sit here in my silence. The …