Showing posts with label twin flame. Show all posts
Showing posts with label twin flame. Show all posts

Monday, April 24, 2023

LOVE POEM: Love is SAYING YES -- Even In The Hard Times




I LOVED YOU

long before I ever met you.

Long before I ever knew

the contours

of your face

Before I ever wrapped my arms

around your waist;

Before I ever Knew
what made you
laugh or cry,
scared or feel alone.

I loved you long before I said
YES!

YES
to your kisses
and comforting embrace
YES
to snuggling with you
and making love with you
YES
to spending the rest of my life
with you.
But what I am discovering lately
is this:
The funny thing about love
is that you have to
keep saying
YES.

YES
to trash night
and cleaning the bathroom.
YES
to sharing a bank account
and a mortgage.

YES
to long labors
and sleepless nights
YES
to unexpected losses
and missed opportunities
YES
to being vulnerable
and choosing to join each other
when we'd rather jump ship.
We have to say yes --
to all of it --
the happy and ecstatic moments
as well as the sad and mournful moments
We have to keep saying yes
year after year --
and sometimes
minute by minute!
We have to choose to say yes,
this moment,
this breath.
So on the day I stand
in front of family and friends,
I'll say yes to you --
in that moment,
with that breath,
and all the breaths
I am to have.

--LISA A. MCCROHAN--

Thursday, December 29, 2022

A Heartfelt Thank You as the Year Closes: 2022 Goodbye to the pain and loss. Happy New Year 2023: Hello To Endless Love, Truth and Comfort

 Dear Readers,


I'm extending



a heartfelt thank you for being here during the worst year of my life. 2022 has been a total trainwreck, emotionally. Everything I could think of has gone wrong for me.

Just a quick kudos to all of you now.  For being a support and comfort, knowing you are reading my beautiful and love-filled blog entries. When I launched this blog on July 26, 2013, my main goal was to share stories, anecdotes and poetry. That has been the case all along. Fortunately, I have all of you to thank for joining me on this journey of love.

I want to say a special shout-out to my Loving Kenneth. He is the man who owns my heart; my Specific Person, the one who gives me hope daily, and whose voice is the most comforting thing I could ever hear after a long, strenuous day when I am weary and exhausted from the world. 

Kenneth -- a dream of a man, whom I'd never thought God would bring me after all the failings and heartache of the past. But here he is! Made just for me. In the words of my favorite jazz chanteuse Julie London: "And I Love Him."

He is far from perfect, but he is perfect for ME. He has flaws, yes he has scars, and he is human, oh so human. But this person is my Divine Masculine. I'm so deeply grateful for you, Sweet Man. I can't contain the joy within my heart for you. It's gushing forth with oceans and rivers of love. 

So as this tired, ragged old year draws to a close, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the inspiration (4 books now you have inspired!!!!!) in my novel career. I couldn't imagine doing life with anyone else. You're literally the other half of my soul. I love you beyond any measure. 

Thank you Kenneth. See you soon. Happy New Year, My Loving Man xoxox

With all my love forever,

RR xoxo


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLU4vxW8kt0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jux3R2i3TpE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJeywenPMKM

Wednesday, October 5, 2022

THESE ARMS OF MINE: a poem by Rochelle Renee

 

These arms of mine

are empty, so empty

since the day you left


This heart of mine

it echoes a pain so deep

The angels even weep

So please come back soon

and fill this space

I need your loving embrace

to warm

These arms of mine


--Rochelle Renee --

Oct 5, 2022

6:17 p.m.

Sunday, September 4, 2022

LOVING YOURSELF MAKES YOU FEEL GOOD: Focus On Love


 Dear Readers,


It has been said by the great writer of our time, Louise Hay, who is now dearly departed but lives on in our hearts and her ample library of self help writings and new age awareness:

"When you don't know what else to do, focus on love. Loving yourself makes you feel good, and good health is really about feeling good." 

This past year, I've hit a personal crisis. Mental health and emotional health. I lost a job that meant a lot to me. A job working with seniors at a retirement home. I was targeted, bullied and harrassed by management over my bad knee. From February 2021 during my first diagnosis over x-ray of osteoarthritis in the knee, to limping on the job in March and April, to getting a cortisone shot that helped me for three months and then the subsequent pain and limping that followed in September (once that shot had worn off in July), I was targeted by management for my "disability." 

November brought a knee sprain diagnosis, running around a dining hall serving meals to seniors. Two weeks off work, a WSIB claim, and management spreading lies and rumors about me through the building ("it's not a tear, you can't use that language in your insurance paperwork," the nasty, control freak business director screamed at me on the phone. "These agents don't want to pay out the money. I've dealt with these people for a long time, I know my stuff." She went on to brag that her "daughter is a soccer star in Spain, and she tore a ligament and needed surgery." Comparing MY injury to her daughter's? Then invalidating me and shaming me without having the final word from my MRI? How atrocious and appalling, not to mention, completely out of line from a Human Resources point of view. In the end, my agent at WSIB was more than accommodating with all my paperwork, doctor visits and backbiting with staff. He happily refunded every penny to me that was lost on two weeks worth of wages, while being sidelined at home.

I was wait-listed three and a half months for the MRI, from the November booking til the March appointment. To add insult to injury,  a maintenance guy at work got in my face and yelled at me over a broken vacuum (not my fault). He shouted: "you're just lazy and full of shit. All you want is to go off on another insurance claim." This could not be further from the truth. I'd just had an MRI at the hospital on March 1st, and the results came in March 30th, via my booked follow-up appointment with my surgeon. It was a meniscus tear under the knee cap. But the buffoons at the seniors home did not wait to hear back from my MRI results. The manager fired me March 15th and I was devastated.

My work at the retirement home was one filled with love, and I poured that love into every day I spent there, four and a half years of it. The seniors were my "family," and our mutual affection and respect for one another was felt deeply. When job loss occurs, there is a strong mental, emotional and physical downfall that happens. First, the shock that it happened at all. Second, the depression over losing my community and sense of self. Third, social life is nonexistent, and you now have a life that you do not recognize that is waiting at home. It was a bitter pill to swallow, and I would spend the next number of months in deep sorrow, gloom and self punishment. When the first week of August hit, I dragged myself out of bed one sunny afternoon and dusted off the exercise bike that was sitting there being neglected. My first ride was 12 km and 30 minutes clocked. Then, I worked my way up to 16 km and then 18 km for 44 minutes in a session. Four times a week, I forced myself on that bike. "Rochelle, you've got to get yourself out of this slump, or you'll be good for no one. Not even for yourself," my inner critic chided.

Suddenly, I had perspective. I also had something that I'd lost with the job dismissal; MEANING.

As with anything that leaves our life, we have to find our way back to the meaningful part. I attached MEANING now to my daily routine. It was not just getting out of bed at noon (because, what else was there to look forward to?) but it was also the fact that I had an exercise routine. I had my coffee, my oatmeal, and my Tetley lemon tea and three liters of water per day. Get the muscles moving, release those positive endorphins, change my mindset, stop beating myself up, don't be so glum.

To add to the mix of sorrow, the man I love had distanced himself from me over a misunderstanding when a "frenemy" of mine phoned up the funeral home behind my back and badgered my Special Person with demands that he" take Rochelle out to dinner or give it up with


her."

I'd waited 11 months for this beautiful man to come back from the west coast where he lived, and have a wonderful reunion of souls this summer in Southern Ontario, just east of Toronto, while he split his time between the cottage up north and his sister's place, a 10-minute drive from me. Well, after that frenemy sabotaged my Specific Person and me, it was game over. He broke my heart by saying he "didn't want a relationship, I hope you find what you're looking for, I wish you well." I picked up the phone to explain everything and try to tell him my side, but he refused to answer. He ghosted me after that, and I spiralled down into a deep depression for months. This is a man in his '60s who was raised by a good father and mother, and knew better than to lead me on this way. He also has serious health issues that might require surgery down the road, and he'd endured a heart surgery in October 2020, so the drama from that traitorous ex-friend of mine just seemed to be the "nail in the coffin" for us. He won't speak to me.

My heart is shattered beyond repair at the ghastly and devious events that have transpired this year. It has been an awakening that has gutted me, in so many ways, and I have felt paralyzed with the depths of sorrow and heartache. My Specific Person means the world to me; he inspired three of my books, he has seen me through the hardest times of this past year (getting Covid, knee injury, bullied at work, losing the job). He was also my biggest cheerleader when the first book in the "Love Walked In" series was released in July 2021. To put it bluntly, he is my soulmate and I love him with the magnitude of an earthquake and the force of a tsunami. His arrival to my life on Nov 9th, 2018 forever transformed me, and I can't feel anything but massive love and compassion for this incredible man. To say my heart is brimming with devotion for him would be a huge understatement; my heart belongs to him. I don't want to do this life without him. I mean that. 



Back to the "feeling good" part. It was surely a process, and a long journey back to self, indeed. After getting my heart broken and losing the job, my new life is now about caring for my bad knee, updating this blog, seeking a job, and healing my brokenness. Yes, this is the "new normal."

I have every faith that my Special Person will return. He is taking a break, getting ready for a medical procedure out west when he returns home this month (hopefully to put him into remission with his illness) and he is still grieving his parents who both died in early 2020. Hence, the funeral this past July, a celebration of life for his beloved father, who was also one of my own soulmates. He has a weak heart from a heart valve replacement, and that is no walk in the park.

Tell me, in the comment section under this blog, have you ever endured a separation from your Beloved, and how long was that? What was the outcome when he/she returned? What discoveries did you make along the way about yourself? I would be intrigued to know what took place and if there was a happy reunion?

As you know, I am a big fan of the Law of Attraction and I apply it to my life every day. I've seen the massive returns from it, over the course of the last seven years or more.

This road back to Self really is about Loving Yourself. Focus on that love, and it will fill you up so deeply, and will overflow into other areas of your life. It really does all begin with Self. 

I am sending you healing vibes and massive love today.

I hope to hear from those who have reunion stories with their twin flame or Specific Person.

Cheering for you always,

RR xo



Friday, August 26, 2022

Law of Attraction: Manifesting Your Specific Person

 Dear Readers,


I've become quite smitten with the idea of Law of Attraction for MANIFESTING your Specific Person either into your current existence or manifesting them back into your life after a breakup or after they have ghosted you.

One of the people I follow is Robert Zink from USA (Miracle Mentor and Alchemy Success Coach). He is the owner of Law of Attraction Solutions, along with his wife, Rachael.

His teachings give me daily support, inspiration, and guidance for my life. Especially for attracting your Specific Person to you.

What I have learned on this journey with my Specific Person are key factors to manifesting him or her back into your life. Robert's advice hits all the crucial points:

1. See yourself as WORTHY. Committed. Absolutely certain. Make yourself the STAR of the movie.

2. Be passionate about your own journey. Focus on your goals. Your dreams. People are attracted to people who are PASSIONATE about something.

3. Quantum Gratitude. Looking forward to the future; projecting into the future about the reality you are creating and being GRATEFUL for your life right now. Writing it down, getting in touch with it. This will raise your vibration.

4. Visualize Clearly The Outcome you desire. The Wish fulfilled. This person or this company calling you, texting you, writing you, reaching out to you. You need to reprogram your subconscious mind with a clear picture of the outcome. It's absolutely essential.

5. Focus on the Feeling. While you are meditating before bedtime, focus not only on the picture, but how you FEEL about them reaching out to you. It's absolutely essential, because feelings are the connecting link to the Universe. You need that Universe REFLECTING BACK to you exactly what you are putting out. That's called manifestation. That's the Law of Attraction. And this is the Law of Assumption. You are acting and feeling "As if." What if I run into RESISTANCE? People ask one of two questions that causes them to run into problems. 1) When? 2) How?

Detach from the outcome. Fall asleep with the positive expectation, allowing you to DETACH. Detachment is so important. You increase the probability that your Special Person is about to reach out to you. As you increase your nightly meditation, you go inward, increasing the Energy.

6. Good Things Are Coming Your Way!! Keep using these daily affirmations. 

Every day, in every way, I am getting better and better. 

Every day, in every way, my Specific Person is getting closer and closer.

Every day, in every way, my Abundance is getting bigger and bigger.


Hope these help you on your journey to manifesting your Specific Person! Stay tuned...

With so much love,

RR xo






Saturday, August 20, 2022

BLUE MOON: a Love Poem

 Blue Moon

In midnight fields/ we frolic and smile/ Once in a blue moon/ a love like this comes along/ Silvery and full/ Bathing the night meadows with a radiance/ Hand in hand/ You guide me/ illuminate me/ head to toe/ I'm surrounded by the glory/ of these wings in flight/ we're two doves soaring/ peaceful/ amid the still night/ crickets and hush/ kisses and whispers/ careful now/ don't wake the sleeping fools/ who do not feel and do not believe/ in Twin Flame love or miracles waking/ so lucky we are/ like hand in glove/ we fit so right/ you fade into me and I into you/breathless, reckless/ the fresh cut grass is jealous/ as we roll together/ passion, abandon, mirth/ the Blue Moon and love's spell/ our aphrodisiac. <3
~Rochelle Renee~



Aug 20, 2013. .
5:11 a.m.

Tuesday, August 16, 2022

Purging The Old Energies To Make Way For All The NEW

 Dear Readers,


It's come to my attention this summer and this past week (Aug 14-21) that it is time for that painful and emotionally raw point in the year -- the purging of old energies. Now, some might say you're overdue for a little "house cleaning" or donating things to the thrift store or giving to those in need, or it might be a clean sweep of the friends list. Lopping off old connections who never reach out, taking inventory of those who no longer serve us, who leave us feeling drained or unworthy. Those who lend no support to our goals and dreams. Cutting off the loose ends, so to speak.

I've felt it every year, and this year is no exception. The painful letting go of something or someone who just doesn't serve me. That old connection that won't reach out and seems "too busy" or caught up in personal issues to even make an attempt to talk to me or see me. It is in the GRIEVING PROCESS where you will end up completely spent and drained, so please practise a lot of self-care and self compassion during this time of loss and letting go. There is nothing pleasant or easy about it. Time to say goodbye, and I am NOT good at goodbyes.

Only, since July 9th,  I've spiraled downward into a funk, a deep rabbit hole in which I could not get out. Until today. A friend sent me an article about Twin Flame union, and it nailed some important points of the energetic and soul-tie shifts occurring. Now, keep in mind, my own Twin Flame has passed on six years ago. Trent is in a better place, and I am glad for that, God rest his soul. But still, the article sheds light on a lot of crucial things that are happening in the planetary alignments this week. I was intrigued.

TRUST is the word that jumped out from the article.https://www.twinflames1111.com/blog/weekly-energy-update/august-15th-21st-22?wickedsource=affiliate&wickedid=august-15th-21st-22&fbclid=IwAR10WIPFc4FEaLikmcpTCmH9RAWwIvZqQ0bOZxZACYR0A2neNdaDjMoTnr8

Trust is something I've been forced to digest in all my dealings with karmic and soul connections in the last 10 years. It can be a bitter pill to swallow, but with that trust comes the lesson of PATIENCE. The two seem to go hand-in-hand, and they are most grueling to deal with, emotionally. This path is not one for the faint of heart. You have to endure with nerves of steel and ferocious willpower. But when you come out on the other side, you will be stronger, wiser, and more aligned with what is meant for you.

Take a look at it; I think it will be worth reading for those either in a Twin Flame union or looking to reconnect with their "estranged" twin. By estranged, I mean, the Twin who has cut off all contact. In the spirit world, you and your Twin are never truly disconnected. Just in the physical sense, when one has pulled away or ghosted.

I hope this blog post has helped shed some light on Twin Flame energy or simply for the enjoyment of higher learning.

Cheering for you always,

RR xo






Saturday, February 12, 2022

Poem for My Valentine


Poem for My Valentine




Long before I knew you

Before our eyes ever met

or paths even crossed

Before space and time

Aligned us

Together


I knew I loved you

That your spirit was 

out there

floating in the atmosphere

searching for me too

Longing for 

Connection

and kinship

and profound love


Long before this old heart

would conspire

with the Powers

of the Universe

Something within me

Just Knew

That you would 

MANIFEST


Long before I held you

in these lonely arms

Some part of me

always knew

I would find you

And my soul just

Overflows

with the gushing force

of a river

that has been set free

of its own accord

and how BLESSED

I feel!

To know your Divine Love

and the Splendor 

Of You

My sweet, beautiful man


At last, I've found you!

At long last, the tides

have shifted


After the earthquake, storms

and avalanche,

Alas, it's YOU

Divinely imperfect,

sincere, lovable, steadfast,

loyal and supremely generous 

"YOU"-

and my heart cannot contain 

This Joy

For all the angels in heaven

are singing

their hearts out

sounding the trumpets of Glory

and God himself is blessing this

Divine Union


God Bless You ~

Dear Heart~

Finally,

We are One

Finally,

Forever,

Amen xo


- Rochelle Renee- Sat Feb 12, 2022

10:53 am


Saturday, January 29, 2022

KINDRED ~ a poem ~ by Rochelle Renee


 Dear Readers,


Sharing a poem with you that I wrote this past week. Hope you enjoy and feel all the massive love, as we enter this blessed Valentine's realm for 2022.

RR xo


KINDRED~~

Strange, 

How worlds collide 

yet somehow we blend

we merge

like two lost lonely souls

who have been wandering

for decades


Eerie,

how we look for perfection

yet what we NEED is right before our eyes

we speak to each other's hearts

and flirt with fate

and then we take for granted

the hours, the minutes,

the milliseconds,

that we could be making love

and counting stars.


Funny,

how we think we're experts

on what works in the grand scheme 

of the universe

when all along, three years wasted,

we were KINDRED -- soulmates -- twin souls

all this time

right under our nose

the most magnificent miracle

we could ever imagine


we are flawed, impeccable, ancient

KINDRED

that is what we are

and I want to kiss your scars, bless your failings,

and fall at your feet

just so you can see the beauty

that is you

and only you.


--Rochelle Renee -- Jan 25, 2022

Sunday, June 9, 2019

THREE YEARS SINCE YOUR PASSING...LOVE IS ALIVE AND WELL

Dear Readers,

My soulmate Trent Rigel Gardner passed away. June 11, 2016. This entry is a tribute to all he meant to me and continues to inspire in me.

***Warrior with a heart of gold***

You never let me go without,
kept me alive
with all the love you had inside

More than a man in a suit
or a musician...
you changed how I viewed the world
transformed my vision
to clearly see
How an EVOLVED MAN was meant to be

Melted my heart
broke down the barriers
and pain from my past
allowed me to grow into
the EVOLVED WOMAN
God created me to be

Without your hand
guiding me
I would not be a fragment
Of who I am continually
Steadfast, resilient, romantic
STRONG, independent,
SURVIVOR.

Your death nearly killed me.
In truth, I asked God to take me
But i have so much MORE to live for
a daughter, a career, a MISSION

My heart is forever YOURS
My Loving Trent,
Nothing can separate us
we were meant

Grateful, eternally
for the daily walk
you share with me
You've never left my side
I feel you near, so strong
Somehow our hearts BELONG
together

Three years since your
passing







Really don't understand
how i'm still breathing
But the miracle is...
I AM.
Love is alive and well
it will be waiting for you
When it's my time...
to pass through the veil

I LOVE YOU MY KING.

RR XXXX


Friday, April 19, 2019

HAPPY EASTER TO MY LOVING TRENT IN HEAVEN

Now more than ever...as I approach the 3 year mark of my soulmate Trent's death...I feel the inevitable ache of loss so deep. More than I have since his death.

Maybe it's because the holidays bring all those old feelings to the surface. Perhaps it's because another year has come around and the reality hits hard: he is never coming back. Also, I believe it's been my writing projects and little distractions (people, places and new experiences) that allowed me to stuff my feelings down...into a place so deep....that I convinced myself the pain was gone.

But that's just wishful thinking. Because I can never stop feeling the raw ache that Trent Gardner left me when he took his life June 11, 2016.

My heart will be forever broken, and that's something I've accepted. Even though I'd rather pretend he faked his death or that this was all just a dream.

Trent Rigel Gardner changed me for the better. He brought a RICHNESS, a luxury, a simplicity to my life. That may seem an oxymoron, but it's true. I felt like a millionaire when I found him and I also felt like the most real, organic and unassuming goddess ever born.

He just knew how to love me, in ways no one else could ever. The man knew how to love me "by default"...as though he were programmed that way, just for me. Loving him was natural, like breathing...no thought put into it, no effort or striving.

His presence in my life was MONUMENTAL. I can only speak for my own experience, but it's true. Others will attest that they saw a different Trent, one of many faces that he put on for each person in his life. But I know him to be only my ONE TRUE LOVE. He was my twin soul, and there was a SYNERGY between us that just seemed to flow. Like the life force energy of the Universe. Natural, beautiful, infinite. A chemistry that I can never forget.

This Easter I want to celebrate my Trent. All over again. For being that Flame to light me when the world is cold.

His kindness and generosity warmed me no end. It transformed me, and I'm a better woman because of him.

I LOVE YOU TRENT. NOW AND ALWAYS. I'LL BE THERE TO WELCOME YOU WHEN IT'S MY TIME TO PASS. UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN, I REMAIN ALWAYS...


YOUR QUEEN,

RR XO


Saturday, January 19, 2019

I LOVE THE WAY

I love the way
your agile,
slender fingers

Dance
across my skin
Making love
with the cells
of my soul

I love the way
your full, exquisite
lips
form a sentence
so eloquent
and how your
big, beautiful
Brain
Just holds so much
knowledge
and wisdom

I love the way
your face forms creases
around your mouth
some call it wrinkles
but i call them
laughter lines
to show me where
your soul is
to show me
how you light up

I love the way
you look at me
as if we are
meeting
FOR THE FIRST TIME
in a lover's greeting
and time and space
stands still

I love the way
your blue eyes
just catch me off guard
and I drop everything
I am doing
in the moment
and the world just ceases
to exist

I love the way
you same my name
"Rochelle"...
as if a lilting love song
from the gods
has just played
with a full, heavenly
orchestra
and no other sound
can be heard

I love the way
your hands reach around
the small of my back
and you hug me
SO TIGHT
and i know
I AM SAFE
because you feel
my honesty

I love the way
Your manly innocence
just shows up
so authentic
that I cannot see
anything else
in my path

I love the way
Your magnificence
just steals my breath away
and i'm in awe
in REVERENCE
of you
My Love
The one who calls to my soul

I love the way
your voice
like satin
drapes itself
around my body
cascades
all down my skin
and makes me come alive
once more

I love the way
we could be in a crowded room
and suddenly
all i see is you
just you

I love the way
you remember small details
of something i told you
long ago
and my heart just stops
for a moment
to say "thank you"
silently

I love the way
your firm, lithe body
fits with mine
in a warm embrace
that lets me know
no other woman
has your attention

I love the way
we greet and part
effortlessly
and the love
is still there
even if time may
separate us

I love the way
You hold space
for me
in your busyness
and chaos
but you seek me out
and never forget

I love the way
your lips claim mine
imprinting my soul
with the exact blueprint
we created long ago
before the sands of time

I love the way
you just understand me
without my need
to explain myself

I love the way
we wind up in bed
our limbs entangled
our hearts entwined
I am yours
and
you are mine

I love you

RR XO

Wednesday, December 26, 2018

HAPPY BIRTHDAY IN HEAVEN, MY LOVING TRENT

Today marks the 57th birthday of my dearly departed soulmate, Trent Gardner...


I feel him near me...ever so close...closer than ever in recent years. He passed suddenly (suicide) on June 11, 2016.

My life has never been the same since that fateful day. I cannot express to you how utterly BROKEN my heart has been since Trent left this earth.

I really don't know how I've managed to go on without him. 2.5 years without his presence, without his laugh, or his wisdom...his music...his comfort.

Inspite of his physical departure, he is still very much here. Trent, I thank you for being near me. For the countless dimes you've dropped at my feet to remind me that you are closeby. For the people you have sent to feed me or help me. For the little miracles that came when I needed money or encouragement.

All of this...a gift of love from above. I will love you always. Till the seas run dry. Till the stars burn out.

Forever your Queen,

RR xo



Monday, June 13, 2016

DEEP RIVER -- YOU ARE LOVED AND MISSED BEYOND MEASURE

On June 11, I lost my best friend in the whole world.

Trent Gardner passed suddenly and my heart shattered into a million pieces.

He was my soulmate, lover, best friend, confidante and twin. We met in the most miraculous way over a tweet I'd sent to my favorite band. When Trent found me, it was against all odds, one in 7 billion, pure magic. The fact we were separated by 2200 miles was a miracle, but finding him after a lifetime of hoping for a soulmate...surreal.

Trent was the mastermind musician, the charismatic angel, and the loving soul who would help his fellow man in need. He had a deep, profound sense of humanity and his empathetic heart stole mine instantly. Everyday with Trent was a blessing I will never take for granted.

California was his heritage, his native land. I had written about that beautiful Pacific from the time I was 16, in a novel about a bicoastal love affair between a female journalist in Chicago and a music producer in L.A. The distance between Toronto and Sacramento was the same in mileage. Essentially, I'd written our love story some 22 years before meeting. The prophecy was mind-blowing.

When we finally met, I got to check off a mark on my bucket list, We crossed the Golden Gate bridge one sunny October Saturday at 11:11 a.m. The twin flame hour, as I liked to call it. The sunlight glistened in my auburn hair and I closed my eyes, reveling in the miracle of our love.

Rigel, meaning brightest star, was his middle name. Incidentally, my character from the novel "Against All Odds (1993)" was named Starr Elizabeth Taylor.  Trent would then go on to tell me that his mother loved the actress Elizabeth Taylor and that Mom's ancestors bore the name Taylor. Eerie coincidence? Or just confirmation that we were destined to meet?

Many parallels guided us. My university was called Trent, and his daughter and my cousins lived in Henderson, Nevada. Too close for comfort. Breathtaking. Phenomenal. We also shared the same family birthdays between us. Everything in the Universe was saying "green light: GO."

Over the course of five months, I flew to California eight times. The hours with Trent were bliss, the moments I got to share with him, forever emblazoned in my mind. My heart swelled with gratitude and sheer reverence for the man who'd suddenly swept me off my feet and made my whole world a wonderland of joy.

Both creatively blessed, he a gifted songwriter and producer; myself, a journalist and romance novelist with a history degree, we clicked so well. A meeting of minds, similar and sacred. A union of hearts, unmistakably bound for each other.

But his life was cut short suddenly. It ended too soon. And my heart is eternally broken. I can't believe I will never hear his voice again. I'm frozen in a state of shock that my phone will never ring and I won't hear that good morning greeting, midday banter or evening wind-down before we sleep. All I can do is encapsulate the memories, hold onto the brief moments, and forever entrench myself in the exquisite songs he left behind. Luckily, I recorded a lot of voice clips we shared with each other. Those are golden. Platinum. Stellar. I can hear him anytime I feel the urge to be close to him. He is here. beside me. Always, Guiding me. My "brightest star" in a vast sky of glittering gems. He stands out. The most luminous of all.

I love you, My Deep River. Infinitely. Forevermore.

You are loved and missed beyond measure. I cannot numb the pain cascading from my heart. It's just so unbearable. But in time, it will subside, the shock and horror of your departure will dim, and I will be left with a bittersweet mist that will envelope me in my times of grief.

The roses you sent me...still stand in the tall glass vase. A constant reminder of your die-hard romantic ways. The greeting cards and the telegram all declare a love so strong and timeless that nothing could rival. The video clips of you singing to me...I can watch them anytime I feel the wave of loneliness wash over me. The recording of our fabulous and fun karaoke night...when you blew them all away with the Chicago song "Beginnings"...that will carry me through the hard times.

Now, I will hold you in my heart forever. Your legacy lives on in me, and in the songs that echo through the vast expanse of eternity. So many loved you, and what a blessing to embrace!

Trent, you changed my life in so many powerful ways. I hope you knew that you brought meaning, passion and renewal to a heart once barren.

Rest now, dear soulmate, in angel wings. Your pain is gone. Your mission complete. Until we meet again, my love. Adieu.

RR