Lessons Learned from Marquerite

My heart is warmed when I think of my friend Marquerite. Unfortunately she passed away almost two years ago now. I believe she died before she hit 100 years of age.  I wish I would have been able to see her beforehand.  Thankfully, I am left with the fond memories we created together and the teachings she left me.  I could probably fill a few chapters with what Marg taught me, but there is plenty of time to share those things perhaps in another book or wherever it is meant to be.

I guess one of the most profound lessons that Marg taught me is to be resourceful and that medicine doesn't necessarily have to cost a lot.  The medicine is oftentimes right in our kitchen or in some very old and inexpensive remedies.

This is a woman who never took antibiotics until she was in her early 90's and was hospitalized for a reason that has escaped me now.  I remember her telling me, "Kim, if they ever put me in a hospital again, please don't let them give me those drugs." "They do funny things to me."

Marquerite lived in the house right next door.  There were very few fences in Holland, New York so neighbors tended to visit a lot more with one another.  Isn't that wonderful! I have such fond memories of warm, summer saturday afternoons sitting on Marg's back porch with a cup of tea, overlooking the garden that was about the size of a large bedroom. Marg tended it mostly by herself which I found highly impressive at her age! She always ate fresh and seldom did she go out to eat.  That kind of thing was such a luxury to someone like Marg. When she did go out, she brought a doggie bag along with her so that she didn't waste the leftovers.!  She seldom had a drop of liquor either. 
      One time, I did start to have a drink with my dinner and then I found that I looked forward to it and sometimes missed it.  Then I knew I shouldn't drink if I felt like I missed it.

So, she never drank after that.  Is there some lesson here? Not so sure, other than Marg listened to her body and she did what she felt comfortable with.  As for me, I enjoy my cocktails as my friends well know.

One afternoon as we were sitting on the porch, I was sharing with her that I wasn't feeling all that great, I was having terrible menstrual cramps.  I had suffered from them since my early thirties. "Well, get a castor oil pack, that will cure them." A what? I replied?  A castor oil pack.  Haven't you ever heard of Edgar Cayce?  No, I sure didn't.  Marg went onto explain who Edgar Cayce was and how he was able to heal people.

For those of you who aren't familiar with this man, he lived in the 19th century and had an extraordinary gift of healing while putting himself in a sleep induced state.  He has been named the "father of holistic medicine." Not only did he have the ability to heal, he could also prophecy things to come and speak about how things came to be in years past. Somehow he had the ability to tap into the collective consciousness.

I have to admit I thought this was a bit far fetched! And a little "out there." But! she peaked my interest nonetheless. 

Marquerite got up from her porch chair, went into her home which was painted white on the outside, with plain and sturdy furnishings on the inside and left me for a few minutes to admire her garden and enjoy my tea.

She came out with a plastic bag that contained a piece of beige wool fabric and several pieces of paper that talked about Edgar Cayce and the healing properties of castor oil packs.  Marguerite told me that it would cure my premenstrual cramps. 

I wasn't a believer, but they were too bad not to try something other than popping tylenol with codeine every month!

I went home that afternoon, drove to the health food store in East Aurora and purchased some castor oil. Well, I am not sure what was in that castor oil, but man did the heating pad feel good and my cramps began to subside.  The instructions from Cayce were to apply the pack to the abdomen with a heating pad for about 1 to 1 1/2 hours for three days in a row and then rest for a few days and repeat.  There is a more thorough explanation and short video on this link:http://www.edgarcayce.org/are/holistic_health/data/thcast1.html.  I have used that trusty method for years now when my cramps get especially bad.  It always works! Always!  And, they would probably go away totally if I truly was committed to an hour a day for three days a week. We all take bits of information to see how it can apply to our lives and help our own circumstances.

There are many other lessons that Marg has taught me.  Perhaps they are worth another blog or two.  We shall see what moves me in the coming days, if lessons from other friends should be shared or if Marg has decided to visit for awhile until her message gets out to the world through my little blog.

Kimberley

Health and Healing, Lessons Learned from Friends and Animals

I began writing this blog last saturday.  I took the time to contemplate it's content, which is why I have waited a week to post. It is my hope that someone will learn something new and start their own journey to a healthier lifestyle.

Saturday, June 9, 2012

Good morning my readers,

It is a cold and rainy spring, Saturday morning.  It definitely evokes a writer to put pen to paper.  My home office overlooks the beautiful, majestic and old maple trees that line my street.  They are in full bloom right now and I so enjoy their luscious green color.  As I contemplate what my writing will be focused on today, awaiting inspiration, my mind wanders to the lessons I have learned from friends and animals about health and healing.

As most of my blog readers know, my cat Ben recently died of cancer and ever since then, I have had a very strong urge to eat even better than I have before and to understand why he developed cancer.  Was it the food I fed him? the stress of his sister Creep dying right after the house fire?, his brother Baileys alpha personality? something in our home environment? or was it something that I will never quite figure out?  Why do we have so much cancer in our world today? Everytime you turn around some knows someone that is suffering or dying from it and animals are getting sicker at younger ages.

Quite frankly I want to hear more about the wonderful food we now have available to us all year round, the thousands upon thousands of healthy recipes you can get on your computer, your IPhone, the people are accomplishing great things with their bodies at ages we never dreamed possible before! What about those 90 year old people who are running races and lifting weights and feeling the best they have ever felt?  I want to hear about the stories of animals that have been healed and what the healthiest foods are for them and how to keep them in their best shape.

I have always loved exercise,eating well and looking the best I possibly can.  Its been a passion of mine ever since I can remember. But now, more than ever before, eating "clean" and healthy is calling me. My mother is a cancer survivor and has been diagnosed with Celiac's.  My dad had high cholesterol and heart issues but has since been a total convert to supplements, ordering beef from an organic farm and eating lots of vegetables and fruits and juicing.  He is totally off his high cholesterol and heart medicine.  My dad is a pretty tenacious guy.  He had six stents put in his heart and was out pulling dry wall down not two weeks later! 

I have been very lucky as I am a very healthy woman who's only health issue is perimenopause and psoriasis.  I am stronger then I have ever been due to a committment I made to employ a personal trainer two years ago this month.  I lift weights three days a week and do some form of cardio 30-45 minutes, five days a week.

I came to study health and healing when my former husband and I are were trying to have a baby.  Diagnosed with infertility and suffering severe PMS symptoms in my thirties drove me to find ways to help my body become pain free and to heal itself.  During that same period, I met a dear friend and her husband who were vegetarian and avid students of alternative medicine. This was the start of a journey that would grip my curiosity and send me down paths I never dreamed over the last twenty years.

I have studied amazing, human holistic teachers such as Dr. Christiane Northrup http://www.drnorthrup.com/ Louise Hay, http://www.louisehay.com/, Wayne Dyer, http://www.drwaynedyer.com/, Deepak Chopra, http://www.deepakchopra.com/ and Andrew Weil, http://www.drweil.com ,Caroline Myss, http://www.myss.com/ and so many others .

My cats vets stand as my teachers in homeopathic and energy medicine. They are
Dr. Alisa Koenig DMV, located in East Aurora, NY, Dr. Donald Hamilton, DMV, in New Mexico and Dr. Cynthia Lankenau, DVM in Colden, NY. 

Recently, I have been following two amazing websites of women who I truly admire for their committment to health. Tosca Reno, http://toscareno.com/ and Kris Carr, http://crazysexylife.com/.
They are women who have embraced health at every level, physical, spiritual, mental.

What have I learned? What can I share with you so that you can begin to ask some of your own questions, answer some that you have pondered or simply be enlightened by some new bit of information?

Answer:  I have learned more than I can share on one blog! Hahahaha!

So perhaps what I can begin with is to talk about Lessons Learned from my 90 year old friend Marquerite with whom I spent precious moments with during my days in Holland, NY.

Rainbow Hugs

So, I was driving home this evening after a lovely warm, family and friend filled birthday party for my good friends daughter.  It had been raining and cloudy all day. The feeling in the air was more fall like than spring.  As I was driving, I was thinking to myself how much I wished I had a special someone to share my life with and how nice it would be to snuggle under the covers with them on this damp and chilly evening. My heart felt a bit saddened.  I seldom feel lonely, but for whatever reason, tonight was one of those occassions where I really wanted to have someone to come home to. 

It was just then, that the sun came out from underneath the clouds and low and behold, there was a rainbow.  I hadn't seen a rainbow in so long.  It was almost as if God himself was telling me that he was right beside me and I truly was not alone. I was so grateful that the roads were very light this evening, it gave me an opportunity to just keeping looking at that rainbow in hopes that I would committ its beauty to memory.

The love of friends, the love of family, the love of God who quietly lets you know he is near.  And I will sleep peacefully knowing that All is Well!

Kimberley