Amanda & Dori’s Adventure, Part 2
2 weeks after I picked up her ashes – I found the perfect wooden box for her. It came from Hawaii fit my hand. I had to look up the protocol for bringing ashes on planes, through customs in foreign countries. I’m still a little unclear, but so far I haven’t been detained. So begins the adventure of Amanda and Dori Orr.
Our first trip she went with me while I volunteered in Namibia, building walls around water tanks to keep the peace between farmers and elephants. She went on official game counts for the government of Namibia to assist in census of their animals. We then went to South Africa to spend days watching elephants and other incredible creatures roam. I left some of her ashes off the coast of Africa in the Atlantic Ocean. An ocean she knew well. I told her I would race her back to the East Coast of America to see if her ashes or I made it there first.
It was a full moon and I was in a town called Swakopmund. I couldn’t have planned a more clear and beautiful night to release her ashes. I learned something that night. Ashes off the shore line don’t actually blow easily into the water. The wind and the water spray don’t make it as easy as it looks in the movies. I think I ended up with more of Dori’s ashes in my nose and eyes than in the water. That’s about right for her and I. We weren’t ever called graceful for sure.
Dori loved studying places and people and animals.
In this life she would have been saddened by the issues Africa faces. She also fought and protested for what was right.
She would have been excited to see elephants and giraffes and hippos and lions and snakes all in the wild. Conservation and nature is what she taught her children to respect.
She would have loved sleeping under the stars and seeing all that Africa offered firsthand. I’m grateful she is still with me.
This was the first adventure of many this year.
I wrote about them all. Alaska, Canada, Scotland, Ireland, and England. I didn’t get much better at getting the ashes in the water, but I hear her laugh every time I mess it up.
I do know she would have been without carrying her ashes with me. There is just something healing and therapeutic about physically having a part of her on my journeys. There will always be a piece that grieves for Dori in this life. This just reminds me to celebrate her.
I hope for those that grieve that you can find the things that give you a little peace.
NOTE: As a Certified Life Coach of over 15 years, I’ve helped people with grief recovery. Please contact me if you’re dealing with grief of any kind – it would be my honor to work with you. Or check my events calendar for upcoming wellness events by Wright Now Wellness.
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