Do you believe in Signs or Omens?

Fitztwins

I was the team captain for our RFL event. It was last night/today. Well, I lit all of our luminaries last night around 9 p.m. When I came back this morning out of 25, mine was the only one still lit!!



What do you think of that? Very strange. My boys found it, I couldn't believe it!!

Anonymous

I totally believe in signs and omens Fitz! Way to go!! The luminary is beautiful too...what a great idea!

Hugs
Peggy

NancyLee13

Janis, sweetie, that is a gorgeous luminaria. I am the captain of our RFL team too and have had similar experiences with the ones that I have lit for my mom and dad and myself. I walk around and say a little prayer or throw a kiss to them on each lap. I believe in signs and that this is probably a sign that says, "You keep going girl"!!!!! Hugs and Prayers--NancyLee

Sandra1957

That sounds like a good one to me.

Best to you,

lini

sjoc

Janis - I had the same thing happen. A friend put my name on a luminary for an overnight walk at a local high school.. Around 2 a.m. it got real windy and started drizzling. She said all the bags were blown over except for mine. It was standing tall and still shining. I took that as a good sign that I will be safe and strong. Good luck to you. - Sandy

Anonymous

Fitz---when the surgeon was explaining my diagnosis, I looked up and saw a sign on the wall behind him that said "God heals, but I get the credit". I knew it was a sign I had come to the right place! And to even top that----driving home, I followed a car (almost all the way home) whose license plate read "SURVIVOR"--I really felt God was trying to tell me something.

I love the Relay for Life--been involved with it for 7 years now. Help my son's boy scout troop do the luminaries every year. Started out in honor of my mom (a 21 year survivor this year) and then was diagnosed myself in 2003.

christineK

Janis- I would take that as a good sign. Congrats on your RFL team, I know you were a great Capt!

Chattypatti

I do believe in signs like this so take it as a good omen!
Patti

myrenewal

Fitztwins - I think it is wonderful your luminary was still lit.

When I returned from my surgery which was only 10 days after my diagnosis and was in pain, fearful and depressed, I saw two baby hummingbirds in a nest right outside my kitchen window which had been built on a string of white twinkle lights on our patio deck. I watched them every single day and told my husband they were my good luck sign. I am now one year out, Mom bird came back and used the same nest again this summer TWO times for a total of four baby birds - the final two just flew away this morning. AND a little redbreasted bird of some kind also built a nest in a hanging plant out on the same patio this summer and hatched two little baby birds in that. The plant was a get-well gift last summer. Believe it or not, I had never had baby birds in my yard before! So yes, I do believe there are signs everywhere to give us hope and inspire us.

myrenewal

Further to my post - I now have a section of the string of twinkle lights which has burned out but my husband won't replace it because we all want the hummingbird to return again next summer and we don't want to disturb the nest.

NoH8

While I think it's very cool that yours remained lit -- I don't think it's a sign, becaused what would that mean for the other 24 people?

roseg

I'm with PRA - the other gals shouldn't "lose" because you sat in a favorable spot with few breezes or disturbances.

The best sign is that you are right here today NED.

Anonymous

I LOVE the stories. They should be put in a book.

As far as the other women's luminaries not staying lit we can't assume that that's a sign they will not survive this disease. But we sure as heck can "hope."

I'm sure the other ladies were not told that their luminaries didn't stay. A friend in Wisconsin lit a luminary in my honor and I'm assuming it didn't stay lit. However, that doesn't take away my hope.

Janis and others who have had these "signs," take comfort from them. I may have been given signs that were less "potent" that I didn't see. Your sign perhaps was more, shall we say, "powerful!" Therefore, your sign hasn't taken away from my hope.

Enjoy the positives from those "signs!"
Shirley

Shirlann

Hi Shirley, ABSOLUTELY someone needs to write a book, heck, you could get a whole book out of Mena's "I want my Mojo Back!".

So many lovely things that go along with this journey, so wonderful that so many of us see them, and gain courage.

Gentle hugs, SHirlann

Fitztwins

As to the other Luminaries. It did cross my mind about the others. If you are not familiar with RFL Luminaries, the luminaries are lit in 'memory of' and in 'honor' of those who have battled cancer.

The fact that mine was the only one that remained lit has no reflection on the others. What struck me was I lit my own and it stayed lit for over 12 hours. This is what I was keying on.

I am the one who lit them all. Whatever it means, it was not to take away from those living or gone. Lit or unlit. I even lit luminaries for all of my bc.org sisters here who have lost the good fight. And those battling mets.

I guess when we try to analyze the whole thing is loses its magic. I must say I am a bit sadden at those of you who took away that special magic from me, if I could only hold onto hope and magic for a few moments.

Sometimes hope is all that we have.

Janis

Anonymous

Oh, dear sweet Janis, don't let ANYONE take that magic moment from you. Hope IS all we have. Keep that fire (light) burning inside you.

You are so brave (don't get mad at me for saying the "b" word), and so supportive of other women on this board. I've seen your posts on the mets board. I go there rarely because I sometimes "just can't go there in my mind."

Don't let the scrutiny from others take away that magic moment.
Shirley

patti3796

May your light and the light of all shine brightly for many years.

DragonladyTina

Hey Janis,

Very cool that your luminary stayed lit up. I bought luminaries this year for my husband's first wife who died in 94 of IBC and my father who died in 06 of Melanoma
My husband bought one in honor of me. I had no idea that he did that and he had no idea I did it either...anyhow the luminary he bought in honor of me ended up between the luminaries I bought for his first wife and my dad...weird eh? Weird but nice.
I love signs!!

Tina

VickiTN

Janis,
I do believe that God sends us signs....and, in this particular instance, I believe the sign was meant for YOU to see - to give you hope. Just because the other's weren't still lit, doesn't mean anything good or bad for the other folks...The point is that God meant for YOU to see this sign - I'm sure He gave the other folks their own "signs" of hope - but, the delivery of their "signs" would be in different ways - in ways that only God knows that they will see and recognize as signs from Him.

Hang on to the magic and mystery of what I call the "God moment" that, I believe, you've just experienced. Don't let anyone take that away from you.....God puts those messages in our hearts to feel, when ever we recognize one of His signs...believe it and hold on to it!
hugs,
vicki

NoH8

Quote:

---

I guess when we try to analyze the whole thing is loses its magic. I must say I am a bit sadden at those of you who took away that special magic from me, if I could only hold onto hope and magic for a few moments.

---

Janis, I don't think anyone tried to take away your moment. I know I was just answering the question about whether I believe in signs or omens.
Stay strong! No one can take magin away from you without your consent!

gsg

i COMPLETELY believe in signs....and, like VickiTN, i believe this beautiful sign was meant for YOU. Don't you dare give up the magic! Your sign gave me chills.


12 years ago, we learned my brother and his wife were expecting twins, but did not yet know the sex of the babies. That same day I answered my door and identical twin girls were standing there selling girlscout cookies. I took that as a sign we were getting girls...and guess what...today I'm completely head over heels in love with my twin nieces!

i'll never stop believin...and don't you either.

take care-
Patrice

Anonymous

Janis,
Signs are all different in everyone's eyes....

Your sign was yours being lit....it doesnt mean bad things for those that werent!!!!

As Vicki said: God shows each and everyone of us our way and he is showing YOU something by keeping it lit.....

Please dont be saddened or disheartened....I know now that the glow has been taken off it wont come back, but reading PRA reply I know she wasnt trying to do either of those things for you...

PuppyFive

{{Janis}} I believe, not only did God give You a Sign
But others were thanking you for Lighting one for them!


"Believe" xoxoxoxoxo Puppy

AlaskaDeb

I do believe we get signs in our lives. I think the quiet little voice in our hearts tells us which things are meant just for us.

I don’t share this much, because it is hard to even explain, but I know exactly when my cancer was gone….

I had the blessing of receiving healing touch while I was in treatment. Before each chemo treatment I would go to the hospital early and 3 wonderful women (one of them my mom) would do healing touch for me. I would also go through a mental process called Guided Imagery while they did the energy work. I would envision that I had a highlighter and I was mentally seeking out each cancer cell in my body and coloring it yellow so that the chemo could find it and kill it.

About 4 months into my chemo treatment I was laying there and trying to do my guided imagery and it wouldn’t work. I couldn’t make it work. I was really sick that day, so I chalked it up to that and went on. The next week, once again, I couldn’t get the highlighter thing to work. All of the sudden I got this totally calm, almost surreal feeling that the reason I couldn’t highlight the cancer cells with my mind is because they were GONE! I actually heard a voice in my mind that told me to be calm, but that the cancer was gone.

When I got up I asked the women who were doing the healing touch if they had ever had someone not be able to do their guided imagery any more and they got this huge grin on their faces. One of them asked me what my own body was telling me. I told her it was telling me there was no more cancer to FIND. It felt totally true in my heart and soul.

It is nothing I can prove. I finished all my treatment with the feeling that it was all just insurance to keep the cancer from coming back. I just knew that the living cancer was all now dead and gone. When I went in for my bilateral mast there was not one cancer cell left.

Janis- Close your eyes. Do you remember the feeling in your heart when you saw the light still burning? Do you remember the leap of joy at the realization that YOU were receiving a sign? THAT is the truth…that moment is the thing you need to hold on too. It is just as real today as it was this moment.

I am sending you a big hug and an extra dose of hope…

Hugs
Deb C

JustOne

Janis,
Of course it was a sign, a sign for you and your children to see and give you a special sense of hope for ‘your’ future. I’m sure the other survivors got their signs too.

I too had a sign. Long story short….I had a tear drop put on my angel tattoos left cheek, signifying my left breast mastectomy, it disappeared after a few months and I took that as a sign that I would be okay. My story was put in a book…the Chicken Soup book. That was a great experience.

~Pam

Fitztwins

Thanks Ladies. All of you.

It has been a really emotional weekend. For a variety of reasons. Pinkribbon Amy, thank you. For some reason it hit me wrong, but today I am cool with it.

Janis
Who is going to treasure her sign for a while.
^i^

Valsul

Along the line of Deb’s experience mine was almost the same.

At the beginning of my journey, I was devastated that I had bc, and to add to my fear and confusion I was constantly told to “think positive” – well, like so many of us, this was just no use to me. How something so meaningless could be spouted so regularly by so many just made me angry. I have to admit that I have spouted it myself before bc and never thought of what it meant, or how to do it when your world is falling apart.

So I called upon the services of a life coach who had been so helpful in the past with how to deal with things to see if he could give me some practical help with getting through this.

He developed the Guided Imagery where I sought out the cancer cells and changed their colour to something that was less threatening than black and so on. However, the most telling thing was when he asked me out of the blue whether this cancer was permanent or temporary. I was in the process of dealing with the question – one I hadn’t even articulated to myself – when a voice inside just answered “Temporary” without any hesitation. I sat for some minutes trying to assimilate what had just happened. Poor Royce thought he had given me a question too far, but I had to explain what had just happened. I have to emphasise that the answer from within was instantaneous and also while I was trying to deal with his question.

Was it wishful thinking? Was it my angels answering for me? I don’t know, but for me it was magic. It gave me hope and changed my attitude.

That’s all our signs and omens are – signposts on the journey that only we can see and are meant only for us when we see them.

Big hugs

Valsul

And like Deb, I have gone down the road of tx with the same thoughts that this is just insurance.

So Janis, that sign was meant for just you.

katz08

i think its a wonderful sign. Before I found out about my bc I had a dream with my grandmother in it. I had not every dreamed about grandmother and she has been pasted for many years. I think she was warning me.

moogie

janis:
I am not superstitious--- but I definitely believe that we are given signs in our everyday life if we are sensitive enough to recognize them. It was a great moment for you and your boys....let noone else's fears, cynicism, or cold logic take that away from you.
Moogie