My sister, Meredith, was a huge animal lover. She loved dogs, and was, in fact, writing a book about them when she passed away from cancer. Around this time, I was scheduled to give a talk about her, celebrating her courage and persistance. When she died erlier than planned, I decided to give the talk anyway. The name of the talk was ‘Of Courage and Wisdom’. And I included a poem, ‘ Come to the Edge’, by Mick Rogers. I loved this poem. I felt it represented my sister and the incredible courage and perseverance she showed, especially during her last days. I decided to include this poem in my talk
Let me share it with you:
“Come to the edge,” he said.
“We can’t, we’re afraid!” they responded.
“Come to the edge,” he said.
“We can’t, We will fall!” they responded.
“Come to the edge,” he said.
And so they came.
And he pushed them.
And they flew.”
Six months later I was having a Dark Night of the Soul experience. I felt lost, hopeless, Things had just been building up to the point where almost everything I attempted was incredibly difficult. I was surviving…but just barely. About this time, I was also working on a book my sister had been writing when she died. The name of the book was ‘The Peepol Whisperer’. (Intentional misspell) I and it was about trying to raise your person as told by her dog, Hawkeye. As I poured over her manuscript, feeling depressed and somewhat hopeless, I froze. There, in the middle of her manuscript was the poem, ‘Come to the Edge’, the same poem I had included in my talk about her, in order to celebrate her courage. I really felt this was a message from my sister telling me to Jump, because when I did the net would be there. So I came to the edge. ..and I flew. Much like she had.