Thankful for Sally

I haven't written anything on Gather for several days.  I just read "Charming Gardeners" by Maya W., which prompted me to write a little something.  This is a little something about what I hope to write quite a bit on later after researching more.

I've found it makes life much easier to live in the thankfulness, so to speak.  This means always looking on the sunny side of life and being thankful for all the perks life has to offer.  I realize things happen that may not be so sunny.  However, I have come to the conclusion that we do attract what we think or feel or the state we are already in; therefore, logically speaking it behooves us to be in a good state.  When those bad feeling or things enter in to life, I just try to remember, and this too shall pass.

Lately, researching a past memory has kept me quite busy.  When I was eight I was fortunate enough to meet what I think was a legend of a lady.  This lady's name was Sally; and that's her only name.  Considering she died in 1968, never marrying or having children, it makes things a little difficult.  Somehow, though I feel she is guiding me on this quest.

Sally was born into slavery.  When I saw her she was aged 103.  She died at age 109.  I walked behind my father into a house through the kitchen on a hot summer day, and saw Sally mopping the floor.  She looked up and slightly, shyly spoke to us.  There seemed to be an aura around her. 

Sally outlasted the people she stayed with and had taken care of when she was a young woman.  Even her caretakers left no direct descendents.  I have randomly called and talked with people starting with my relatives who had had some connection with her in the past.  The search itself has been a blessing.  One person led to another.  I'm still at the very beginning of the search.  Somehow, I feel Sally is leading me on.  I say Sally, "I so feel led to say something about your life.  Please throw something at me."  Each day I look for something or talk to someone I get some new piece of information, and say whoa!  From the few stories I've gotten so far I think the aura I saw was definitely real.

This past weekend we got to hear a discourse from Swami Vidyadhishananda.  Something he said made me think of Sally.  He said that people would say that ignorance is bliss; however, it was not ignorance that was bliss.  It was innocence.  Innocence is bliss.  Innocence is divine.  Ignorance will get you into trouble.  I know that day I saw Sally I saw that innocence and divinity in her.  Even though I doubt she had any kind of formal education, I only saw innocence and definitely no ignorance.  I am truly thankful I was blessed with this brief encounter with her.  From what I gather thusfar, Sally lived on the sunny side of life.