Update On Joanne

This is story I promised on how I knew that Joanne's path was ready ...

11:07pm, Sunday September 10, 2006

I have just finished saying four decades of the Rosary out loud to my angel.
I don’t know if the fact that I only completed four is of any significance, but I do know this ...

As I entered the second decade, I closed my eyes because I didn’t like to look at the tremors that were shaking Joanne’s body. Her eyes were rolling back into her head and she was having the same kinds of tremors that I had seen before, but I knew these tremors were not because of medication. I closed my eyes because I was still unsure if wanted to be there at the exact moment she passed on to the Lord. I was unsure if I wanted to see her die. I have been preparing for this day since that first day back in May of ‘99, and yet I was still unsure how to do it.

With all of this uncertainty running through me, I relaxed as I entered the second Hail Mary. And that’s when it happened. At first it just felt like a presence; a warm, comforting breeze. Instead of ignoring it, I decided to explore it. When I opened my mind’s eye, the images were not crystal clear, not LCD or Plasma screen clear, not even "old photograph" clear, but I could tell that there were two figures close to me. I felt reassured, safe, and motivated. I straightened my back and held the palm of my left hand up. My right hand was holding Joanne’s. I continued to pray, but with more confidence and joy all the while still trying to discern just who were these two figures that had made me feel so safe; hoping that my prayers were exactly what Joanne wanted at this exact moment.

As I neared the end of the Glory Be, I was pleased to realize that these two figures had come down from The Stairway to Heaven. They had softly yet confidently come down the stairs with smiles on their faces and their robes flowing. Peace, tranquility and warmth came with them. Step by step, one at a time, with confidence and no sense of urgency at all, they came down the stairs. They came to me and placed a hand on my shoulder and made me feel right. I finished the Glory Be, and realized that it was Jesus and Joanne’s father Del who had given me peace and showed me that they had prepared Joanne’s stairway. I could see the light far away at the top of the stairway, and I could see the stairway lined with many people who had the same peace, tranquility and warmth exuding from their mere presence.

They spoke no words. They made no gestures towards the stairway. They simply let me know, that by the power of my prayer, they were called to come to me and show me that the path to heaven for Joanne was a stairway. Each step would match each step she had taken in life. Each step would be trod slowly, but with confidence, and no sense of urgency. Each step she will be revered by the people helping her make the trip to the light. While I knew that she would be held high and supported by the prayers of all of our friends and family, it became clear to me that Joanne’s achievements and accomplishments on earth will pale in comparison to those that she will achieve in eternity.

I knew that whether I was right there with Joanne, or was sleeping on the other bed in the same room, she was going to be taken care of in Heaven by the same kind of loving people who have taken care of her on earth.

Tonight, I met Jesus.
This is my Angel’s gift to me.
The one last thing she needed to do for me.
She brought Jesus to me in a real, safe, warm and joyful way.

It didn’t matter what I wanted to do, I simply knew that when Joanne is ready, her path is ready.