More Whispers ...

I felt in my heart when I began writing this blog that I would begin hearing from all sorts of people from all walks of life who've had whispers of their own. Yesterday I heard from one of my friends about one of her whispers. She said it was only one of many that she's had, but I'm going to let her tell you about it, in her own words, just as she told it to me ...

"CJ, I have had those whispers many times. Last Christmas Day 2009, we had to drive our daughter back to the airport. I had this dream the night before of us driving. It was raining so hard and there was a bridge.

That day when we took her to the airport, it was raining and I was nervous the whole trip. As we we went into the "hairpin curve" to the airport, I told my husband to slow down. As we did, there were several cars overturned and he lost control and almost hit the bridge next to us. The police said it was "black ice". Thank God for my dream. It saved our lives. I have lots of stuff to share..." Ellen Silverthorn Howe.

Very powerful!

I have another whisper of my own to share. It's one I alluded to in my blog yesterday and it involved my youngest daughter, Heather.

It was during summer vacation and my three girls and I left New Hampshire to visit family in Ohio for a week. My brother, Tim, invited us to go out on a boat with him and his family of four children for a day to water ski and take the kids tubing on the Scioto River. My daughters were five, seven and nine years old at the time.

One by one, the children took turns donning the bright orange life jacket. Then, once lowered onto the huge innertube, they gripped the handles tightly and took their spins behind the speeding power boat. With each turn of the boat, the child was catapulted across the wavy wake to bounce and giggle with excitement. Tim was an excellent and safe driver, but his wife, MaryAnn, and I were like two mother hawks cautiously watching over each fledgling as they took their ride.

When it was Heather's turn, I buckled and zipped her securely into the bright orange life jacket. I was just about to lower her into the tube when I got one of those "whispers". It was loud, pervasive, and telling me in no uncertain terms that something was very wrong. I pulled Heather back into the boat and wondered what to do with the information I had received. After thinking about it for a few minutes, (much to the consternation of all aboard), I told Tim I would need something to tie with. He looked around the boat, but found nothing. Then I noticed that MaryAnn was wearing sneakers, unlike the rest of us who were either barefoot or wearing sandals. I asked MaryAnn to give me the laces from her sneakers. She balked at first, but after hearing my arguments for wanting to secure the life jacket, she reluctantly gave in and turned over her shoelaces.

I re-zipped and buckled the life jacket on Heather. Then I took each shoelace and tied it through circular metal rings which were at both the top and bottom of the front of the jacket. By now, I was taking a lot of flack from everyone, adults and children alike, for my "over-protectiveness" ... but the whisper that had been so insistent was now gone and I felt reassured.

Again I lowered Heather onto the huge innertube, giving her the same motherly caution I gave all of the others: "Hold on tightly to the handles and have fun".

Her ride on the tube, as with the others, lasted about ten minutes. Back and forth across the wake, I watched as she bounced and giggled. One more time, we slowed the boat and circled round to pick up a young and weary passenger. I think I was the only one aboard who wasn't surprised when Tim pulled her up and into the boat. The life jacket zipper was completely blown apart and the buckles had let go. The only thing holding it onto Heather was the shoelace tied through the rings at the top and the one holding it together in the same way at the bottom ...