Star Princess

Video Link: Love Inc. You’re a Superstar   http://youtu.be/IZIDUwO-TfA

 "Ascension"
Copyright ©1987, Colleen Corah Hitchcock

On May 3^rd, of this year, I attended at the Langley Events Centre, Be the Change Symposium.

STENBERG COLLEGE presented a day which was centered on inspiring speakers from around the world. They also merged together with organizations that had tables at the Opportunities Fair.

I attended the whole day and was motivated by Canadian activist Craig Kielburger, who is an advocate for the rights of children. Along with his brother Marc Kielburger, they co-founded Free the Children charity and Me to We social project.

I was fortunate to be given the opportunity to hear a group of young men speak about their adventures and book, aptly titled: What Do You Want To Do Before You Die? Later, I purchased their insightful book based on their journeys in life. The four, young men are renowned as “The Buried Life” and include: Duncan Penn, Jonnie Penn, Ben Nemtin and Dave Lingwood.

While autographing my copy of their book, I shared with each of them The Heart Pebble Movement. I mentioned if any of them could place a pebble for Shayla somewhere, it would mean a great deal to me…I am still eagerly awaiting a reply that possibly this was done :) 

On that day, I gained a deeper appreciative for those involved in ventures that are making such a dramatic ripple in this world. I spoke to people about my cause and heard the passion of others who were carving their own legacy into a society bereft with challenges.

In my connections with those in attendance, I shared about Shayla and her adoration as a ‘rock hound.’ I met many mothers and daughters, whose tears began to form, when I explained what the movement symbolizes. 

One of those ladies was Cathie Watters.  I received in my email, the following kind-hearted message:

Hello Tonya,
Just wanted to let you know that we sent off the rock for Shayla on Friday May 10th. We were on a cruise to Seattle on the Star Princess and threw it off the balcony into the Pacific Ocean. We wanted to honor Shayla on our trip. I will send the pictures in the next three separate emails. I hope you like them. Bless you my dear.
Love Cathie

 Given the timing of it being my 2^nd Mother’s Day spent without my babygirl, the array of lovely images-along with her shared words- truly meant a lot to me!

The beautiful notion that this release occurred on an excursion to Seattle- a place Shayla and I had many fond memories of- brought such comfort to my delicate heart. We had spent numerous times at Pike Place Market, attended a Bon Jovi concert at Key Arena, looked out at the world from the towering heights of the Space Needle and indulged in maple donuts covered in strips of bacon. 

Babygirl and Momma in Seattle for  Bon Jovi- The Circle Tour

The magnificence of the movement is that I never know, when out of the blue, I will receive an email, photograph or video of a pebble release. The idea that people, much like Cathie and her daughter, are inspired to share their journey with me and think of Shayla…means that a part of her now exists in their world. For this, I am deeply filled with gratitude and a sense of honouring my sweet angel, carries on…

By T L. Alton

Heavenly Music

Could you beam me up,
Give me a minute, I don’t know what I’d say in it
I’d Probably just stare, happy just to be there, holding your face
Beam me up,
Let me be lighter, tired of being a fighter…
I think, a minute’s enough
Just beam me up.
In my head, I see your baby blues
I hear your voice and I, I break in two and now there’s
One of me, with you…
So when I need you can I send you a sign
I’ll burn a candle and turn off the lights
I’ll pick a star and watch you shine…

Beam Me Up ~ P!NK

http://youtu.be/-NZSSCsebF8

* P!NK, Carey Hart and Willow Sage   in Photograph by People Magazine

 

Over the years, Shayla and I attended many concerts together. Our music tastes ranged from country, pop, soft-rock, indie and gospel. Whether sitting in a balcony listening to Roch Voisine strum a collection of guitars onstage or Bon Jovi rock the Key Arena in Seattle, Shayla added to the entertainment. A muse of sorts that when I was at any concert with her, she brought such a dominant energy, those around her were captivated.

As I start to recall those musicians who were on our concert Hotlist- Taylor Swift, Sugarland, Lady Gaga and many more, which we will never see perform as a mother/daughter duo, it makes the walls of grief close in on me. When one of our much-loved, creative powerhouse singers, P!NK, debuted her new album The Truth About Love, the wings on my fragile heart felt knocked off. We always considered P!NK, a sphere of beauty in artistic merit and as a person. Since Shayla and I always could relate to the underdog, her caustic, raw and dark lyrics were in contrast to P!NKS statuesque, extraordinary acrobatic moves. Watching her in videos is comparable to witnessing an ice cube sizzle on a birthday sparkler. You know it is eventually going to melt, but the anticipation keeps you fixed on the display. Much can be said for P!NKS passion in both singing a ballad and involving the audience in every glistening moment.

Today, I was watching videos from The Truth About Love, when a song by P!NK brought my angst to the front burner. Beam Me Up could have been written for me…as if we as mothers sat in my living room, while my sorrow spilled onto her tattoos. Especially the part of breaking in half, as this feeling of being split where the love should be a whole; is now fragmented splinters of obscurity.

What I did with these words was absorb them into a mother’s grief and send them upwards to my babygirl. Every day I awaken, my world may begin anew, but the loss I continue to endure does not cease. What eases the terrible aching within, is to listen to another mother, creative entertainer and performer like P!NK reach me through a means I can relate to…words of expression. It is my hope that I maybe able to go to one of her concerts and not feel like I would crumble without Shayla in attendance. I would hope when I close my eyes I will feel her hand in mine and a whisper in my ear that says: Momma…let the music soothe your soul.

By T L. Alton