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wild, raw and edible

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Hello Sunflower,

First off, THANK YOU to the thousands of women who joined us for the Sensuality Summit last month! (If you missed it LIVE, you can still access the recordings at www.thesensualitysummit.com)

We are re-defining what Sensuality REALLY is, and how utilizing it enhances all of our 7 senses (yes, I said 7) and how to ‘experience our experiences’ with more awareness, authenticity, aliveness, pleasure, passion and potentcy as the women we are here to be.

Feeling into my Sensuality, I am allowing myself to receive my beauty and truth, and step into more of the woman I dream of being…

I’ve been consciously integrating some of the new awareness I gained from The Sensuality Summit and other programs I have experienced…Outside in Nature~ Offline~ and it’s been so nourishing especially with the beautiful weather…I’d love to INSPIRE you too to get outdoors and experience Nature’s beauty and abundance!

Remember being a kid when everyday was an adventure..how AMAZING you felt every single day?

Remember who you were…remember the INNOCENCE…the ALIVENESS…the EXPANSION and EXCITEMENT you felt then!

I believe that is why people get addicted to alcohol and drugs…they are bored and stressed but they KNOW there is more to life than what they are currently experiencing…

In our consumer-oriented society where accumulating ‘things’ substitutes for ‘experiences’, it’s inevitable that 1 in 5 are on anti-depressants…and why I intuit that mood disorders are becoming an epidemic.

When I went Raw over 12 years ago, something magical awakened within me which transformed my life and inspired my entire family!

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Landon's raw birthday cake 2008 w mama

There have been many gorgeous CELEBRATIONS accented with raw cakes along the way…always spectacular, delicious and memorable! 
landon's 11th birthday raw cake

liam's raw b-day cake

liam's raw mandela cake

raw cake with flower

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shakaya's choco mandala cakeclick here for a video recipe demo

The boys always had fun adventures in Nature, and they took to gardening before I did.

boys in their garden

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buddha baby

side by side

WILD berries found on a bike ride~ natural treats and treasures 😉

wild berries found

We’ve all feel drawn to the beauty and exotic, exciting essence of Mother Nature…

…whether harvesting wild water year round (making sumac solar tea)

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or berry-picking

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or camping outdoors in our backyard

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I had many health issues and wasn’t looking or feeling vibrant and radiant…I wanted something better for me and my family.

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I was Un-schooling my kids and started drinking what I called ‘BLENDIES’~ blended salads basically…this was even before Green Smoothies! (My kids like Green Smoothies better than my savoury Blendies;)

The biggest challange was getting my husband excited about the new lifestyle I was creating in our homelife…

He was a smoker…it was a coping strategy for dealing with pain and stress…I needed him to be PRESENT, not numbing out.

SMOKING IS CRAZY

It created a wall in our marriage because drugs and alcohol never solve problems and create more issues…why not face the pain instead of numb it, and actually deal with it and make the changes to heal and transform it?

And OH how I judged him for medicating instead of meditating…for escaping instead of evolving…

And I resented him for not jumping on board …

He is a master artesan/craftsman who builds massive ponds and waterfalls creating sanctuaries for his clients on their estates and it is extremely labour intensive  work with alot of mental planning and working out in the elements and he would say he requires denser heavier foods than vegan raw foodists who aren’t as active…

waterfall pond by luke leone

Eventually, I was able to strike the right balance and lured him in and he became sweet without sugar and high without substance 😀

LEONE FAMILY IN THE FERNS

family berry picking

With the same techniques I share about in my book Naked Beauty I helped him clear up his skin.

green smoothie facial

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He looks and feels happier and healthier with every passing year raw and truly is the bedrock of our family!

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wheat grass gratitude

YES WINE

He still likes the occassional glass of wine with dinner~ he’s Italian!

He’s become a medicinal mushroom hunter~ he loves his Chaga and Reishi 🙂

You can read up on medicinal mushrooms and foraging or join a wild walk with an expert in your local area.

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wild harvested dried chaga

A couple years ago my husband planted MULBERRY trees, BLUEBERRY, RASPBERRY, and CURRANT bushes in our yard~ PARADISE.

He inspired me and the boys to create our own gardens: mine consists of HERBS and LAVENDER.

I wish for the herbs to whisper to me, teach me which ones want me to know them, to learn to grow them, to heal with them. I wish for all of us to open to the whispers of Nature and learn what desires, what she sings. I wish for strings upon the ceiling hung with sage and lavender, thyme and chamomile.

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I love adorning salads with wild chive flowers. And I adore my wild NETTLES and LAMBSQUARTERS in smoothies.

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The boys grew lettuce, carrots, tomatoes and cucumbers.

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Luke and Liam washing our garden's harvest

Over the years we have gravitated more and more to foraging for wild edibles and always feel so blessed by Nature’s gifts.

One morning after meditating on the beach and swimming we stumbled across a patch of wild mint and vines of wild grapes.

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Drying herbs and wild edibles is a fun and practical way to store them away for enjoying later when the white world of winter comes here in the North.

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Many flowers are edible and add beauty and fertility to everyone who eats them:

daisies, daylillies, chicory, clover, coltsfoot, pansies, wild violets, wild mustard blossoms, tigerlily, wild rose are some of my favorites.

What are some of yours?

Raw women and men have a sparkle..they smell delicious and their skin is soft and smooth.

Our raw lifestyle makes me smile and laugh and play and feel fresh and wild and beautiful and free~

We experience the adventure and fun of bonding as a family…artificial stimulants can’t compare!

It’s so easy to be happy and enjoy the simple things.

Being always frail and sick growing up no one in my family could believe it when I started barefooting even in winter

Liam and mama running barefoot in snow

mama barefoot forest walkand taking regular Polar Bear Dips

MAMA AFTER POLAR BEAR DIP

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I made some videos on youtube at my earthempresstv channel

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It feels so good to wash my hair in collected natural Spring or rain water infused with lavender or staghorn sumac:

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SUMAC SOLAR TEA

Or make a pink lemonade iced tea by collecting the sumac and adding slightly crushed berries in Spring water and set in the sun for several hours…DO NOT HEAT THE WATER FIRST as it will destroy the delicate health-giving oils and acids. STRAIN and add stevia to sweeten if desired. Sumac is high in Vitamin C and antioxidants and tastes refreshingly like CRANBERRIES.

shakaya solar tea from sumac

When you are raw, your aroma sweetens…

It can get wild…

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… limitations start to drift away and a renewed passion for life and what’s possible infuses your every day.

There is so much more LIFE to your life!

This summer I invite you to spend more time OUTDOORS exploring the gorgeous wild gifts of Nature in your area.

with summer sun,

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ps To celebrate summer 50% savings off The Body Cleanse e-program HERE

*Just use the code SUMMER before AUGUST 22

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angelina’s choice

I was sharing with a girlfriend about recently reaching another level of intimacy with my husband and wanting to rest there…

…not sure if I want to stir anything up for myself right now…

…and she sent me this picture…

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…it’s at once shocking and hauntingly beautiful to me…to be able to surrender to our deepest fears…

…the trust and faith in Life it requires…the gentleness, softening and boldness required to have fear and to be able to go into it and beyond it, unscathed…inspiring!

And it reminded me of my girlself…how fearless she was!

Full of childhood mischieviousness, climbing the highest trees, standing up to bulleys when other kids were being picked on, the mis-adventures living on the streets orphaned and homeless, travelling the world solo, job interviews, dating, marriage, having kids or starting my business-

I’ve been so afraid through it ALL and yet I was always led out of the Lion’s Den into more safety and freedom than ever before…

This sacred place between what we are willing to even allow ourselves to desire and what we dare to believe is possible for us is FEAR.

This fear layer is composed of misguided beliefs that we can find ourselves stuck in for a lifetime if we don’t discover it’s purpose.

Fear’s purpose is to keep us safe. To keep us small and in familliar territory so we don’t get hurt, a remnant of our reptillian brain.
‘The unknown could be tricky..better play it safe…’

But the unknown is where the expansion happens, where the magic is…

I found myself reflecting on my relationship to fear when I heard about Angelina Jolie’s deciscion to prophilactically have her healthy breasts removed in a double masectomy because she carries the BRCA1 gene that causes a type of cancer that killed her beloved mother.

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It reminded me of the interview I did with Dr Dean years ago when she told me doctors are placing tiny bits of titanium into women’s bodies at the site where Cancer ‘might’ show up in them so that if/when it does they would know exactly where to look. Just imagine the psychological impact that invasion has on a woman…having a foreign body placed inside her as a marker for where Cancer ‘might’ show up…

This fear-based mentality is something we require as empowered women to become aware of.

Back to Angie.

I am not passing judgement on her decision; I honour Angelina for doing what she felt was necessary, for she has every right to do what feels right for her, as we all do…

…though it feels profoundly misguided from the standpoint of true prevention…

For her, Angelina made a brave and proactive choice- a pre-emptive strike against what she perceives as an aggressive potential threat to her well-being and her very life. (Next she is going to apparently have her womb removed causing early menopause in her 30’s to prevent inheriting ovarian cancer like her mother.)

This feels so out of harmony with physical healing…(and yet, emotionally it obviously gave her peace of mind).

Having lost her young mother tragically and then fearing what potentially could become her fate and feeling the need to make this sacrifice must be unspeakably painful…

My beloved mother died of a heart attack at 48 when I was 16 and I have a heart condition and am now 48 and my son is turning 16…but it doesn’t mean this has to be my fate too…

I’ve written about the latest research on epi-genetics in The Radiance Retreat that tells us gene expression is NOT set in stone but rather influenced by many factors such as stress-levels, nutrition, internal environment/toxicity and also our own thoughts and beliefs. (A good read about this is Genie in your Genes by Dawson Church, PhD.)

This is amazing news!

When it comes to our heart, our breasts, our womb- our level of connection and fulfillment in our  relationships including the one we have with ourself, influences our genetic expression…we are not destined to be victims of our genetics.

Our sensuality and how we see ourselves and experience our own value as a woman is a vital part of our health formula as much as our diet and genetics. Even as a Raw Foodist I always say ‘it’s not just what you eat but what’s eating you’ that matters too.

Our breasts are sacred spheres of our feminity and they reperesent our ability to nurture and provide sustanance…(Let us not merely ‘examine’ our breasts…let us really feel them…massage them…nourish them…How are we relating to our breasts? To our femininity?)

Breasts are not honoured in a misogynistic culture that relegates women’s bodies primarily as fodder for male fantasy. Nursing mothers in public have been shunned and called ‘disgusting’ and many girls and women themselves develop a less-than loving relationship with their breasts and bodies as a result of messages in the media and other conditioning.

If we do not feel our own beauty and love, we may attract relationships that reflect that shameing energy. Our breasts represent our ability to nurture and give life… and if we don’t feel nurtured and loved in our relationships, our breasts and our womb cannot thrive, cannot embody life force energy.

Louise Hay says all dis-ease is a symptom of our thoughts and feelings, mostly about ourselves.

As emotional and intuitive beings we desire to feel loved and desired…when we don’t, a part of us begins to die…our feminine body has a very deep need to be honoured, respected, cherished, loved.

I don’t believe we can fool Mother Nature or be lulled into a false sense of security through screenings and many other non-emergency medical interventions.

Many of us if not all living in the modern world are potentially pre-disposed to certain dis-eases like Cancer, so why do some people and not all of us get ill? And what makes a faulty gene activate in some people and not others? Could it be that whatever causes Cancer to thrive in our system cannot be tricked no matter how many body parts we surgically remove- that the Cancer will just find another part to grow?

When my husband was diagnosed several years ago he determined it meant for him to ‘See Answer’.

He began a quest to understand what parts of himself were wanting to check out, and what did he require to learn and shift within himself and his life to heal those parts and strengthen the parts of himself that desired to live and thrive.

When our body whispers are we too busy to even hear?

Do we react fearfully or respond to our body? To life? To our Truth?

Back to the head in the lion’s mouth…What is YOUR relationship to fear?

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love, faith and healing to you Angie and to all who face agonizing health choices

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real, raw, radiant

IMG_0538Ahhh, the warm weather has finally reached my snow-belt pocket of Canada! (this pic above was taken in CA where I visited a couple months ago with the gorgeous Tara Marino, her husband Dave and her Elegant Femmes).

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During the cold months I hibernate a bit and cozy-in with family, friends and my clients.

But during the summer months I let loose and my social butterfly wings spread out wide in every way I can think of.

I love to attend events where other empowered women are gathered with purpose.

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Here is a video I made on the way to the Women at the Ritz evetn with Feminine Leaders Fatma Zaidi and Selma Laji sharing how I style my hair without using any damaging heat or styling aids…au natural!

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To be REAL with you

I hadn’t slept the night before (insomnia has been off the charts lately), I had a big zit (haven’t had one for years!), my silver strands are showing (I am not sure what I want to do about them as I really don’t love the idea of chemical coloring), and I’m in the middle of my big The Sensuality Summit (you still have a week to register for f@ree if you haven’t already) and I actually considered not going…

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I know that when women who know of me or learn what I’m about they expect me to look practically PERFECT. I have often thought I had to ‘measure up’ to that and it feels less than inspiring to put myself under this kind of pressure.

Being RAW for me is about more than looks…it’s about how we look, feel and LIVE.

Are we honouring ourself, present to others and life, are we authentic and open to connection, and allowing ourself to receive our power to expand and be in our loving, sensual, powerful receptivity?

I call this RADIANCE and we can all have it even when we are challenged by circumstances that are not ideal. It is a form of Leadership and inspiration for ourselves and those around us.

Perfectionism is boring anyway.

If you are letting it stop you from getting out there and allowing yourself to do things and be seen, (we do this as women and it’s holding us back from offering and receiving our gifts!) give yourself permission to let loose from that bondage, and just be open to the experience.

Over a dozen women came up to me at the event to ask about my lavender dress.

When I told them I made it, they asked if I would make them one too- I never expected that!

Ask yourself, Where have you been holding yourself back?

You don’t know what is waiting for you…

to your radiance,

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ps Another favorite gift I get to experience this time of year is creating Empress Activation VIP days with my clients.

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I only offer these at certain times of the year and I’ve opened up 6 new spots for those of you who are READY to step into more of your authentic beauty, power and truth as the woman you are here to become!

Fill out this application so I can get to know you a little and then we will have a call together to explore if this is right for you- this is a beautiful process designed to be a gift of permission and clarity that I invite you to experience:

https://earthempress.com/application-to-work-privately-with-shakaya-leone/ 

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sensuality summit gets personal

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I promised myself this time it would be different…that I would be different… embody my beauty, my pleasure and my truth in a way I hadn’t been able to before.

When Patty Contenta and I teamed up to create The Sensuality Summit, I decided that I would allow it to bring me to a whole new level of Sensuality in my life and business…

It’s only one week in and yet I feel how I have approached decsicions differently and created spaciousness in my schedule and in my being to receive the Speakers, and the unfolding of the event itself…

I’m going through a huge REBIRTH right now and it feels like my husband and I am falling in love all over again!

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Which is amazing because we’ve had our share of STUFF and alot of it has been surfacing lately…I’m realizing getting triggered is a GOOD thing because it shows me where I’m still available for deeper healing…

And just in time too as lately I have been feeling…very REACTIVE to my husband’s cranky moods.

Maybe your mate is like mine- he works HARD and he becomes stressed with the weight of the world on his strong shoulders.

I TRY to relax him…but when he is resistant (sometimes it really seems that he’s just not happy until I’m miserable too!) I can get annoyed with him and his moodiness.

Omgoodness I did something last night that THRILLED myself!

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I won’t bore you with the details of why my otherwise incredible husband is so often in his moody gremlin side- a skewed loyalty to his family’s values WORK HARD, DO MORE, SACRIFICE IS NICE, PLEASURE IS A DIRTY WORD, DON’T SHINE, RELAXATION = LAZINESS etc etc

But none of this reflects or inspires or resonates with me…

I AM ACCOUNTABLE TO MY SOUL
I keep hearing those words echoing, calling me…

I’m discovering that for me it has alot to do with playfulness and  MYSTERY…

Last night when my husband came come he was miffed his shower wasn’t ready for him as I usually do…

Now, instead of EXPLAINING to him that my Summit launched this week and it’s been CRAZY, plus that I took our youngest to get fitted for his tux for his upcoming grade 8 Graduation (awwww) and I picked up our other son from his Track meet and took him home to change and then brought him to the team dinner party etc etc blah blah blah

Instead of going into justifying myself, I actually said:
‘Not tonight Babe, better watch that entitlement…’

He stopped and just looked at me not sure he heard me right!
And I looked up and gave him a mischievious wink!!

I felt so sexy and irresistable in that moment!
And it FUELED what I did next.

While he was getting undressed and grumbling about something or other (usually I would go to him and listen and try to soothe the Beast by letting him talk about his HARD DAY that would go on and on – ugh!)

… instead I ran to my bathroom and created a gorgeous Spa Bath with essential oils and a glass of his wine- then just as he was about to go into his shower, I went to him and grabbed his hand and without saying a word, I gave him a kiss on his NOSE and I led him upstairs to my bathroom.

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‘I thought someone who works as SMART as you (not HARD) might enjoy a bath fit for a KING tonight…He LIT UP!

I poured warm water over his back for a moment and then…well, you can use your imagination 😉

This felt so GOOD to me because when in the past I have felt inspired to create pockets of beauty, if it hasn’t been acknowledge or well-received, or was critcised, I’ve allowed myself to wilt like a shrinking violet.

I have been guilty of STEPPING OUTSIDE OF MY SENSUAL CIRCLE for the sake of ‘harmony’ with others…abandoning harmony within myself!

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This is how we give our power away to others.

Last night was a powerful turning point in continually reclaiming myself and the woman I am here to become who owns her Beauty and has a love affair with herself and her life!

THAT is the power of setting an intention and then creating a container to nourish it in.

The Sensuality Summit is one of the most beautiful containers I have ever had the opportunity to create and explore my own desires and deeper feelings that have nothing to do with sex but definitely affect sex.

It’s already one week in but it’s stil f*ree to join if you haven’t already!

http://www.thesensualitysummit.com

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with sensual surprises,

securedownload ps Here’s what YOU have been saying so far:

I just finished listening to the recording of last night’s talk and was very impressed with Allana. Carol Lynn

I loved it, beautiful and relevant. Looking forward to tonight. Kandi

Patty’s call with Allana gave me CHILLS more than once! Great job ladies! Alison

So many insights and inspirations on this call! ‘I promise to never settle for less than what my heart and soul desires’ YES! I’ve been ‘serving from my reserves’ and no wonder why I’m so depleted! Janice

Christine is a blend of powerful and vulnerable…I’ve had those out of alignment super-sob moments recently and I realized on the call I need to give myself permission to follow my true values and only have loving and respectful relationships especially with myself! Lana

I really liked hearing about the branches of self-love and I will use the pulse check on my energy every morning~ thanks Shakaya and Christine for this awesome wake-up call! Purina

Hi Shakaya and Patty, Thank you so much for this summit. It’s happening at exactly the right time for me, and I’m loving it. Inna from Finland

Just a note of applause! I LOVE the speakers and the messages they have for us so far! Wonderful!!!! Deborah

Baljit was so gentle and wise…Thank you for introducing her to me, I loved her energy and this call, my favorite so far! Barb

Dearest Shakaya, just finished listening to yesterday’s recording. Absolutely Amazing, You are making many lives more JUICEY!!!!
Thank you and Patti and all your Awesome Artists. 
Trillions of applause(((((( )))))))) Haley

Chameli is beautiful…her energy is so pure and powerful as a sensual, spiritual feminine leader, I loved this call! Sandra

I’m enjoying this summit! I like learning that sensuality is not just about sex but the whole of a woman. Karyn

Wow! Charu is one of the most comfortable and uninhibited women, so comfortable in her own skin! Inspiring!! Cherie

I wasn’t convinced the tantric exercises Charu shared would really work, but I had an experience today that had me feeling very frustrated and contracted so I gave it a go- and I have to say, I DID feel a release! I loved how Shakaya teaches her children how to shift their energy too. Paula

My parnter and I listened to the call together and it opened up a deep and open conversation together. Listening to Charu felt like a safe and soothing sanctuary, thank you! Kim

Dear Patty, I just wanted to thank you so much for the Sensuality Summit you are doing with Shakaya. It’s incredibly empowering and feels so good and warm to hear your interviews and to learn.. It just came at the right time into my life when everything is changing and I’m revealing my true self, on an important part of my journey. I’m so thankful to have you ladies here with me now and I want to let you know how important you and your work is to me. Elena from Germany

I’m so grateful to learn about the 3 R’s of the bedroom and can’t wait to try this out! Sheila

 

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you are a wished for dream

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Today I lit a candle celebrating my mom’s life…

‘You are a dream, a wished for dream…’
My mom used to whisper sweet things like that in our ear when we were young…

Mom, you were the most loving woman I’ve ever known…
You taught me by example about REAL femininity, beauty and sensuality…how to share myself with the strength of an open heart and vulnerability…how to be fiercely protective of what I love…how to honour myself…you always told me I was beautiful inside and out even when I felt like an Ugly Duckling because I had buck teeth and was so skinny…and you loved me unconditionally no matter what!

…even when I became vegetarian at 13 and wouldn’t eat what you made to ‘put meat on my bones’, even you found out I hitchiked, even when I ran away from home when you started drinking, even when I got mono at 15 from kissing a boy, even when I lost your grandmother’s gold watch that you let me wear for picture day, even when I cried in your arms at 16 when my best friend moved away a couple months before you suddenly left us…

I WILL NEVER BE THE MOTHER YOU WERE but I LOVE being a mother, and a woman who knows how to really love, because of YOU.

THANK YOU beloved mom, for everthing you did for me…for things I couldn’t even understand until I became a mom myself…I only wish I could have had the chance to tell you more how much your love has carried me through life…and I know you had a hand in all the angels that came into my life afterwards, and my meeting Luke because a better man I couldn’t have found without Divine intervention…

You were wise in ways I will never be…but I WISH you had taken better care of yourself…I wish you hadn’t sacrificed everything for your children…I wish someone had have told you that YOU ARE PRECIOUS TOO and that your Dreams mattered also…perhaps because of you I found my calling in life of exquisite self care so I may live a long and rich healthy beautiful life fulfilling all my dreams and assist other women around the world to do the same so they can live their dreams too…I wish I had you longer to have helped me navigate those teen years and beyond, lord knows I made many mis-takes, and being on the streets and having a breakdown at 19 was a nightmare…I wish more than anything my beautiful family could have known you and that your loving eyes would be on my boys…perhaps they are…

Strangely, the pain of losing you is still visceral and no ‘Time doesn’t heal all’…but the beauty of the woman you were and the life you lived glows warmer and brighter in my heart to this day still guiding and illuminating my life …you are still in my heart always ♥ I love you forever

 

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