Across the veil we planned our return
I gave unto you a segment of my soul and
you gave unto me an essence of yours.
We agreed to hold them safe.

We plotted our lives individually
selecting our time and place to be born
a continent apart, yet knowing we would meet again.
Different circumstances of nurturing and growth
different levels of social standing and cultural awareness
but the seed of remembrance glowing within.

We planned to meet thousands of miles away from our childhood homes
on a speck of an island in the Caribbean Sea.
Another sacred contract had taken me there
aboard SATORI, which was built with God’s grace and love—
a vehicle to share the gift of love with all who came to sail upon her.
You came on vacation, unsure of a week afloat
without hair dryer, electricity, or running water.
Yet, you felt the love that was offered
and relaxed into the pleasure of the cruise.

The light in your eyes, the shining of your soul
the sweetness of your smile—called to me.
In a week’s time we became sisters, bonded forever.
I shared my belief of light-beings composed of energy
you smiled and offered your delightfully melodic laugh—
while hidden away in your heart was an awareness that grew, and blossomed.

The ensuing years found you on a path
aided by Saint Francis of Assisi
which manifested in the full-formation of the angel that you are on earth.
You are a light to all who know you; God’s perfect love.
You became a Wise Woman, a spoke in the circle of love—
a voice of light in the darkness of polarity
an awakening—a blessing of laughter to those you touch.

You have blended the knowledge of who you desired to be with the joy of being
—generating a spirit the revels in what she creates—
a person who loves what she does and shares it with spontaneity!
Even when your world was suffused with darkness
your identity as wife and mother threatened
you stood stalwart in your ballerina-trained-best-posture
and knew no adversity could threaten
the inner you.

Having raised three beautiful daughters
and delighted in their children—the continuity of your light—
you now mold the children of your community
in manners, and dance. Cotillion. 
An odd word for my tongue
having been raised on the West Coast
where the “twist” was more in fashion.
Although we were nurtured in different realities
the connection of the love of our hearts
survives all disparities, time, and space.

Later, you told me I was the first to see through your persona—
who you were raised to be—
to your spirit; the first person to love you unconditionally.
Like a mirrored reflection, we remind one another of our true selves
whenever we slip into our encumbered ones.
We reconnect through our contract of remembering
and once again find the footpath of our destiny
our doorway of happiness.

And when, in my despair and fear,
I reached out to you
you returned unto me my awareness of who I am
suffused with your delightful joie de vivre.
You knew me, and confirmed that I could be whatever I wished.
You gave unto me the opportunity to make my dreams manifest.
You believed in me always, even when I doubted myself.
Your focus of delight, happiness, laughter, and love
encouraged me to return to my own.

I am back upon the path of my inner-knowing
singing the blessings of who I am
and where I’m going and
I want to thank you for being the touchstone
the sacred contract, that brought me back.
This contract, this bond, is a circle of love
designed in the void to which we shall return.
And when I reach that place on the other side
I will look for you to be my guide
—or if I return before you do
you’ll know that I am there, waiting for you.

~ Gabrielle M. Thompson, Summer, 2002

Over two years ago I filled out a research survey for Caroline Myss dealing with archetypes. In April I saw an audio catalog advertisement for CD’s and tapes on SACRED CONTRACTS and had an immediate feeling I should buy them for my friend in Little Rock, Cita Cobb. I bought a set for each of us. In listening to the recordings, I realized the nudge to buy them was what Neale Walsch means when he says our whole life is a message, we are just not always awake enough to receive it. The CD’s and Cita helped me through a particularly rocky stretch in the path of life. They helped me to remember my contracts, and to focus on what is really important—giving and receiving love.

~ Gabrielle M. Thompson, 2002
© 2002 Gabrielle M. Thompson

Gabrielle Thompson lives with her husband Ed and daughter Lyric in the mountains of western North Carolina at Eco-Cove, a 117-acre wildlife sanctuary and trout farm. She has a degree in Anthropology, works in the library at the local community college, and is a free-lance writer. Previously, she helped Ed build, sail, and charter the 75' schooner, SATORI, for 14 years in the Virgin Islands. Gabrielle recently finished a novel, Adventures in Paradise. "...keep me in your thoughts & prayers until I get an agent & book deal!"