On October 7th 1999 my 38 year-old brother died very suddenly from a rare form of meningitis. My mother told me what had happened over the phone and I had quite a reaction to the news – so she tells me. My father and I went to register the death at the council offices the following day and there was much to do in sorting out his affairs, keeping us all busy for a while afterwards. |
Once a little time had passed I started to reflect on my relationship with my brother and in particular the last few months of his life. During that time we had made a connection that had not been present for the majority of the previous thirty-five years. We were very different, had different interests and our paths only really crossed at family events. But something changed during that last few months.
In early 1999 for the first time in our lives, my brother and I had arranged to meet up socially with friends in London. We met somewhere near the Globe Theatre close to his work. He was proudly showing off his new mobile phone – his first one – the top of the range model I recall. He had a facility to pick up messages from his home phone and during the evening he received a voicemail to say our father was in hospital in Margate, Kent, having had a minor heart problem.
Later that year in August 1999 my father went into St Thomas’ Hospital in London to have a pacemaker fitted. My brother and I arranged to meet up at the hospital at 6:30pm one evening to visit him and then to spend some time together afterwards. I arrived at the agreed time and he wasn’t there. So, I went to visit my father for about an hour and then, as my brother hadn’t arrived I decided to go home. As I was about to leave the hospital I made an unusual choice to buy a drink and sit by the River Thames, something I usually would never do!
I had a very clear intention to simply find my way back to Waterloo Station and get my train home – but instead, sat for about twenty minutes watching the world go by on the South Bank. As I finished my drink I made my way and noticed a rubbish bin adjacent to a bridge and went out of my way to put my empty can in the bin. As I did so, I heard my brother call my name out from up on the bridge. We met up and after he had spent some time with my father, we went out for a meal in Soho.
During this meal, my brother and I made a connection that had been missing for most, if not all of our lives. We made friends with each other and it was a very healing experience. What neither of us knew – at least on a conscious level - was that this would be the last time we would meet.
I cannot stress enough how ‘out of character’ all of this activity was for both of us in truth. We were almost complete opposites in so many ways and our social lives were totally diverse. So many ‘coincidences’ and out of character choices brought us together that night for the last time and it is very clear to me that there was on some level, something greater at play in all this.
It was as if we met that night, knowing we would not meet again and this was a chance to heal the hurts of our childhood jealousies and other issues.
What has been shared here is only part of the whole story but it is enough to illustrate the feeling I had that this was in some way, an event that was planned or constellated. In my experience, when we open up our hearts and our eyes, we can be aware of a bigger picture in our world. Something that says, there is more, you are more, keep looking, keep feeling. In my opinion there are too many such ‘coincidences’ for this to be a random thing.
There was a feeling around my meeting with my brother that was different from my everyday experiences. It was there to support my awareness that there is indeed more and there is an intelligence or a plan at work in life.
I have continued to explore this possibility and today feel absolute certainty that it is the case that we are all part of something much greater than we can possibly imagine and that these ‘magically’ constellated moments are simply a confirmation of the fact.
Richard M., UK
In early 1999 for the first time in our lives, my brother and I had arranged to meet up socially with friends in London. We met somewhere near the Globe Theatre close to his work. He was proudly showing off his new mobile phone – his first one – the top of the range model I recall. He had a facility to pick up messages from his home phone and during the evening he received a voicemail to say our father was in hospital in Margate, Kent, having had a minor heart problem.
Later that year in August 1999 my father went into St Thomas’ Hospital in London to have a pacemaker fitted. My brother and I arranged to meet up at the hospital at 6:30pm one evening to visit him and then to spend some time together afterwards. I arrived at the agreed time and he wasn’t there. So, I went to visit my father for about an hour and then, as my brother hadn’t arrived I decided to go home. As I was about to leave the hospital I made an unusual choice to buy a drink and sit by the River Thames, something I usually would never do!
I had a very clear intention to simply find my way back to Waterloo Station and get my train home – but instead, sat for about twenty minutes watching the world go by on the South Bank. As I finished my drink I made my way and noticed a rubbish bin adjacent to a bridge and went out of my way to put my empty can in the bin. As I did so, I heard my brother call my name out from up on the bridge. We met up and after he had spent some time with my father, we went out for a meal in Soho.
During this meal, my brother and I made a connection that had been missing for most, if not all of our lives. We made friends with each other and it was a very healing experience. What neither of us knew – at least on a conscious level - was that this would be the last time we would meet.
I cannot stress enough how ‘out of character’ all of this activity was for both of us in truth. We were almost complete opposites in so many ways and our social lives were totally diverse. So many ‘coincidences’ and out of character choices brought us together that night for the last time and it is very clear to me that there was on some level, something greater at play in all this.
It was as if we met that night, knowing we would not meet again and this was a chance to heal the hurts of our childhood jealousies and other issues.
What has been shared here is only part of the whole story but it is enough to illustrate the feeling I had that this was in some way, an event that was planned or constellated. In my experience, when we open up our hearts and our eyes, we can be aware of a bigger picture in our world. Something that says, there is more, you are more, keep looking, keep feeling. In my opinion there are too many such ‘coincidences’ for this to be a random thing.
There was a feeling around my meeting with my brother that was different from my everyday experiences. It was there to support my awareness that there is indeed more and there is an intelligence or a plan at work in life.
I have continued to explore this possibility and today feel absolute certainty that it is the case that we are all part of something much greater than we can possibly imagine and that these ‘magically’ constellated moments are simply a confirmation of the fact.
Richard M., UK