REAL LIFE GHOST STORIES
 NEXT STORY Text, Presentation, Copyright 2006-2025. All Rights Reserved. Asha of Antares.Asha Ariel Aleia. Background image and photos courtesy Asha Ariel Aleia |
IN THE NAME OF LOVE Marvin Lawson  Marvin Lawson with me on his shoulder, mid-1950's Kindness. Compassion. On my top ten list, these are numbers one and two. A real-life example of spirit-in-kindness incarnate was illustrated again and again in Marvin Lawson, my earth father, whose blonde, tanned, beach-loving life was brief, gone to spirit again after just forty-six years. Of the many instances he shared in life, two nights remain in my memory of him as emblamatic. He was the youngest child in his family and adored his mother, who now lived in a neighboring state. In 1959 and 1960, before interstates and seat belts, auto trips were made over back roads, highways and short-cuts on roads often having soft shoulders and narrow lanes. When Marvin got "the call" that his mother was dying and would likely not live through the night, mom, my sister, and I were hurriedly packed into the family car as dad, an excellent driver and caring dad, began the race of life and death, navigating the back roads of the western Florida panhandle into southern Alabama toward Montgomery in the dark of night in an effort to be there for his mom "in time." As we rounded a wooded, dark curvy back road, out of nowhere a large dog ran in front of the right fender, so closely it could barely be seen by the headlight. But we felt the thud. We felt the rolling dog's body travel under the car and out the back. Dad immediately stopped and pulled over. Knowing what an animal lover my father was - often stopping the car to help a turtle cross the road safely - and how he could never have knowingly harmed a dog, my mom was quick to remind him that the dog was probably dead and it had been an accident and we had a DEADLINE, so... What would you have done? In moments such as these, we show our truest selves. Dad got out of the car, took his flash light, called us all to his aid and began the search for the injured animal. We searched everywhere imaginable. My father's anguished face told it all. He searched every shadow in case it was unconscious. He called out for it. Maybe it had run off in shock. Only after every effort had been made did we climb back into the car and continue onward. His mother must have waited for him ... When we arrived, we had time to go to her bedside and say goodby to "Miss Ma," as we children called her at her request, since Leila felt she was too young to be called "grandma." Dad didn't call her mom. She was "Peaches." He had a nickname for everyone. Peaches was short for peaches and cream, because she had such a pretty complexion. We children were asked to step into the hallway so that dad could spend the last minutes alone with his mom. It is at those moments - when our wants and the needs of others seem to be at odds - that character determines our course. We felt dad's moment of anguish as he was faced with a decision in which he could only control one element - his behavior. He could not stop the clock. It was likely that any delay at all, even a red light, would rob him of his last opportunity to tell his mother he loved her, to say goodbye. And yet, in his own time of sorrow and loss, compassion for the needs of another won out. A living creature might be in pain or hovering between life and death and he was the one who could do something to help it at that moment. And, he had two young daughters who were forming lifetime impressions about life, love, caring, compassion and prioritizing. He could not save his mother. But it remained to be seen whether or not he could save an animal he had accidentally harmed. He knew the decision was made. He knew his mother would understand ... She must have ... she waited for him. She breathed her last breath just minutes after he stood beside her. As soon as he had said goodby to her.... she passed on. BY THE YEAR 1970 the world was entering into a different era. NASA had shown images of one of Earth's own walking on the moon. The civil rights movement, anti-war protests, and Woodstock were now common parlance. We who had been children in the backseat of the car when dad had made his final trip to see his mother were now the teens and young adults with cars and lives of our own and trips home to visit our parents. When my first son came into this world seven weeks prematurely, we worried about our baby's ability to survive. A full night's sleep was welcome. On one of those nights, I was awakened by visions that were both vivid and repetitive: My father, who should have been asleep in his own bed a thousand miles away, was enunciating clearly the same few sentences again and again. "What are you saying?" I thought. "I didn't understand. What did you say?" I repeated. Awakening in a chilled perspiration, I tried once more to go back to sleep. The vision returned and the message repeated. This time I was awakened by the telephone's ringing. My mother was calling us to say that "daddy" had passed away suddenly and unexpectedly. He was 46 years old. His last words had been to announce the proud birth of his first grandson, born early but who would be fine. Grandson survived and grew up, no doubt with the help of Marvin's loving spirit, which had passed from his body that same night when he had appeared in my visions ... the weekend following his grandson's discharge from the hospital on Thanksgiving. TIME AND DISTANCE In the events shared here, Marvin Lawson was confronted with one of life's larger challenges - separation by time and distance. He was faced with trying to "do the right thing" with two life versus death struggles on his hands at the same time, TWICE IN HIS LIFE! He was faced with "curve balls," obstacles put in his path as he tried to handle one of the largest emotional crises in his life, the death of his mother. He was trying to handle his own vulnerable emotions and his duties as a son, while not wanting to set a bad example for his children as a father. It was a defining moment in his life. He handled his "time" dilemma - so much to handle and very few moments remaining to do so, by living in the NOW, this moment. In this moment, the children were here. In this moment, the dog was here. First things first. Time was the imaginary dragon. It showed its illusary qualities by appearing as the dog. What seemed very real in that moment was the impact, the rolling movement, the sight of the dog, the possibility of a long journey with an injured, possibly dangerous dog in the car in search of a vet at night. The idea of a very long ordeal at the worst possible moment ..... did not happen. The dog had vanished. No long journey, no further delay ...The dog, the idea of diminishing seconds and minutes was the imaginary dragon showing its fiery breath. When Marvin decided to tackle one moment at a time, using kindness and compassion, the dragon of time withdrew its flame and the breath of life held out for just the right amount of minutes. The obstacle that came with distance disappeared. Faced with the adversary of time and distance, Marvin Lawson's tool of choice was kindness. What would your's be if you were tested today? And, in the end, he was again given a choice and the adversary was again time and distance. His grandson arrived too early to survive without assistance. Marvin's own first son had died as a young baby in the hospital. This time it would be different. As grandson was entering the world and struggling for life in a hospital in Pennsylvania, Marvin was about to enter the hospital in Florida and fight for his own life as well. By late Fall, grandson was released home to start his life. Marvin was by his side -in spirit. |  | |||