The Right Words at the Right Time …
“The right words, at the right time and spoken from the heart, have an echo the Universe cannot contain.” – Micheal Frances Smith
I grew up, literally, at the feet of a Master. She is not well known, for her works are quiet and modest and yet infinitely powerful. Her techniques are subtle, a touch or a hug, a warm bowl of spaghetti, or a phone call from her at just the right time – this is a woman in touch with her heart in a way that few are. Her heart is like a bonfire and many come to her to warm their hearts and hands in its glow.
Among the gifts she has freely given during our long relationship the greatest gift she has given me is my eyes; for her eyes and my eyes could be twins (or would that be quadruplets?). I have my mother’s eyes and so do each one of my five siblings.
My earliest memories of my childhood go like this: Dad would get ready and leave to do cement construction work, and after she fed her children and sent the older ones off to school the doorbell would ring. At the door would be a Sister from the church – we were raised Mormon – and she would be welcomed into the living room, where the two women would start talking, and before long crying together exploring solutions.
I grew up watching this woman – who had no more than a high school education – heal people with conversation and spaghetti; soup and sincerity - and always with a devotion to her Father in Heaven and her beloved brother Jesus Christ.
So, who am I? I am my mother’s son. My four sisters and my brother remain my best friends, even though our ideology differs the strength of our family bond is strong and vital; I am a member of a strong, loving family.
Being devout Mormons, my family and I had some issues when they found out their son and brother is gay but we never stopped being a family. It is ironic to me that except for the same-sex status of my relationship with my partner, our relationship resembles that of the marriages of my sisters and brother. Without ignoring the differences there is more in common than different.
How does one begin to explain the influence my partner, Michael Shanahan, has had on my life? We met when we were both young, and we’ve been together now for 27 years.
A picture of us the week we first met hangs proudly in my office right next to my diplomas, with a golden cord laced between the frames.
When he found that I believed I was not smart enough to earn a degree, he enrolled me in college. Where I am weak, he has been strong. Everything I have accomplished or will accomplish has his influence clearly imprinted on it. A man who turned away from a comfortable nice paying corporate position in mid-life to attend Loyola Law School just because he always wanted to have a law degree, he continues to challenge me and to love me even after all these years and knowing all my flaws.
The creative expression and human struggle toward love and harmony are what excite me. I know the power of the heart and when two hearts are open together miracles are given the chance to come into manifestation.
This is the work that excites me; giving others the opportunity and the right conditions for a miracle to manifest in their lives.
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