Jane Gee.  What an extraordinary person.  I truly believe that people come into your life when you need them.  Somehow it happens without you knowing it or asking for it.

I met Jane through a mutual friend.  My first visit with her was inspiring and… hilarious.  She took one look at me and said, “Take those beads off!”

For several years I’ve been trying to figure out who I am and what I’m supposed to be doing.  As usual for me, I had been grasping at everything I could find that would help me figure out what I was meant to do and be.  At this time I had taken a shining to mala beads.  You know, the yoga beads people use to meditate with.  They are all the rage now and in addition to having a “spiritual meaning” have become a fashion staple.   Naturally, I bought everyone I could find.  Particularly, bracelets.  I have always been somewhat of a bracelet hoarder.  I wear several at once and really love the tingling sound they make as you move your arms.  This, I know, is a throwback to my Grandmother who always wore a charm bracelet.

Nonetheless on the day that I first met Jane her first comment was to get them off.  I was a bit offended that my spirit/fashion sense had been scoffed at but did as I was told.  Since that day I’ve had many sessions with Jane and she has been a complete source of inspiration, knowledge, support and kindness.  I have no doubt that I am in for many more sessions but one in particular solidified my belief in her skill.

As background, I had a significant health issue when I was 5.  I had contracted a potentially deadly virus that left me paralyzed for about 2 weeks.  I spent a long time in the hospital away from my parents, waiting for doctors to determine what the virus was and if they could do anything about it.  Ultimately, they couldn’t however I was lucky enough to have a strong immune system that eventually fought it off.  But not until scaring my parents and I to death.  This experience really did shape my life in many ways.

When I came home I was a different child.  More independent, more angry and more solitary.  Following many years of therapy, I have come to understand how this event and its residue impacted me and, in fact, shaped my future. During one of our sessions, I shared this story with Jane.  When I was finished she asked me if I would be interested in a “soul retrieval” session.  As is typical for me, I jumped at the chance.  “Wahoo!  Another shot at a magic bullet that might give me answers to all my questions!”   Of course that’s not exactly how it works but this session with Jane was definitely an experience that I’ll never forget.  I’ll describe it in a way that is understandable to those of us who are simple minded about such things.

Jane took me through a mental journey that revisited the time in my life before I was sick. She had me visualize myself as the little girl I was.  I brought up the people and places that surrounded me at that time.  I saw myself wearing a little flowery dress in a field playing with a stuffed animal.  It was a stuffed deer, or maybe a reindeer.  I could feel the scratchy, tough felt and could smell the acrid scent of the fabric.  There is no doubt that I was remembering an old stuffed animal of mine.   This didn’t go on for very long – only a few minutes.  Jane said some things to me and to the others that might have been in the room.  At the end she sent the original little girl me back into my  current self.   After the session, we talked about how I felt and what I saw.  And this is the clincher.  Jane described what she saw — a little girl in a field with a smocked dress and a deer playing nearby.  I almost fell out of my chair.  It was pretty much the same scene I had pictured.

This experience helped me retrieve a little bit of the me that was, before I was sick.  I can’t say that everything is awesome and I’ve figured it all out because of this session.  But I can say that Jane helped me to bring back a part of myself that had been buried under my illness.  I will never forget this experience and will always be so grateful to her.  What an extraordinary validation of her power.

Needless to say, I really don’t wear the bracelets anymore unless, of course, they match my outfit.  I do, however, feel extreme gratitude to Jane for her willingness to help us all dig a little deeper.