I posted this a year ago, today, on Facebook...(ironically, the photo of tree pose showed up on my FB memories that same day from 2013)...
"Jeff hated tree pose. I can still hear him, “Oh come on,” when we’d move to tree in yoga. If he was anything, he was determined, focused, ready to take on a challenge, and a little off balance some days.
He progressed through many variations of tree, including closing his eyes and maintaining the balance. He lit up with each new arm balance or inversion he figured out. He was part of the core of our yoga crew.
One day, he wanted to play a joke on the GM and ask if the club would buy a designated yoga cart instead of us taking the regular golf carts for yoga on the tee boxes. He was excited I knew Photoshop and he stood over my shoulder and said, “Yeah, yeah, add tassels to the steering wheel and put a Buddha statue on the back! Oh my gosh, that’s perfect!” He hid around the corner giggling like a school boy as he instructed me to present it to Joe with a straight face. It’s my favorite memory of Jeff.
When he tried barre for the first time, he mumbled, “This bullsh*t. The only reason you count down from 8 is because you can’t count down from 64!” If you’ve taken a barre class, you know why that’s so funny. That might have been his first and last barre class.
People who didn’t know him would ask me what kind of guy he was. I guess he was a tough read, because I was asked that question many times over the years. My response was always, “Salt of the earth. Jeff is good people, one of the kindest men I know. He’s like a big brother to me. He’d give you the shirt off his own back.”
With that question, I realized he didn’t let everyone in the way he let me in, and I really appreciated having him as a friend. He looked out for me. We had some good, deep talks about death and communicating from beyond. Those are my most treasured conversations with Jeff.
I’ll wait to hear from you, my soul brother. Yoga is at 9am...and it will be heavy with tree pose."
Jeff died January 29, 2021 and started connecting with me in August of that year. The jokester popped into my meditation like a big 'ta-da'! He was a magician...which I didn't find out about him until his service. I've been able to deliver messages to his wife and 3 children and his sister. Sometimes he pops in just for me though. Here's what he had to say a few weeks ago:
"If people only knew the way it works. We aren’t here to divide and conquer. We are here to come together, to unite as one…like people do during a funeral or memorial service or when a tragedy happens. [He flashed me back to his celebration of life with everyone dancing to a private Michael Franti concert. Jeff was a fun guy! Then brought my attention to more recent natural disasters and how much people come together for support]. We see it over and over because these things always occur and then we go back to divide and conquer. It’s so insane. We must experience death time and time again to remember and we think, “This time! This time will be the time I am aware!”
We are here to remember we are connected, we are one. We aren't so separate.