Connecting and reconnecting

I know, I know, I said I probably wasn't going to start writing in my blog until later, but…, I wanted to talk about something I did today. 

Living here in Denver, and being from Guam, I sometimes wonder what I'm doing living so far away from the ocean. I also don't get a chance to see many other people from Guam either. I do have a couple of friends here, Joey and Susie, with Joey being from Guam. I only met them recently so it's been fun getting together with them and talking about "back home."

Several months ago I met John, another guy from Guam when I was driving down Evans Ave., here in Denver. I was driving to a small group session I was giving that night and saw the Guam stickers on his car, so I followed him for several miles trying to get his attention. He told me later he was wondering why I kept honking at him! LOL

I finally was able to get his attention when I was going to turn and he was still going straight down the road (probably trying to get away from me). I was wearing a t-shirt that said something about Guam on it, and so we talked for a minute and parted ways when the light turned. He was able to find me through my website, http://www.anthonyquinata.com., and called me. 

Well, Friday he left me a message on my phone saying that there was a Guam Liberation party (celebrating Guam's liberation from the Japanese by America) today. I can't tell you how excited I was! I didn't know there was enough Guamanians here in Denver to even have one! 

Anyway I went, met a lot of people; ate a lot of good food, and some new people I'm sure will become friends. Reconnecting with them helped me to reconnect with, and appreciate, not only my culture, but myself. 

It also reminded me that my work is not about "dead people," but about reminding people to live their lives for today, and the next. I know that I needed that reminder myself. 

By the way, in case you're wondering, yes, I'm still moving my things! 

Back in the saddle … soon I hope!

I haven't been blogging for a while, but it's not because there hasn't been anything going on with me. Actually, I've been quite busy - moving. I'm moving from my home in Cherry Creek, CO to Castle Rock, CO. 

Castle Rock is south of Denver. What I've been doing is moving carloads of things for the past several weeks. This coming Wednesday and Thursday will be mostly large items. Thursday will be the final day of moving and cleaning; Friday will the the first day of my new journey in my new home. 

I'm at a point now in my transition in which I'm thinking, "I'm so over this!" What is really going on though is that I'm down to the things I've been saving and really don't know why. So I know what I'm really feeling is the "grief" that caused me to hang on to the things I'm working at clearing out. 

Throwing these things in the trash, or giving them to Goodwill, will be so cathartic for me that I'm planning on spending Friday thinking about what I want my life to look like in the coming 12 months. So I probably won't be posting anything until August 2nd. See you then! 

Two Mediums with more messages

Thank God Natalie had the verve and foresight to schedule a second night ahead of time! Between the television show and word of mouth about the previous night's event, we had a full house Tuesday night. 

Natalie suggested that instead of "piggy backing" we each have an allotted amount of time within which we do discernments (readings). That worked out really well, though, while I tried to tune out I still picked up some of the things Natalie picked up. I know it was the same for her. And it was another great night for those who attended as well as for Natalie and myself. 

Another thing I noticed was what I referred to as "Natalie's east coast style," and my "west coast style" of doing discernments. Natalie is a force of nature, and I'm a beach bum. LOL 

I mentioned before that I was puzzled at the looks my t-shirt got me ("Trust me. I'm a psychic). Looking back on it, I think it's because the town of Girard, PA doesn't realize that it has a world class psychic in it's midst. Natalie Smith-Blakeslee is, in a word, "an incredibly talented psychic and Medium." Okay, that was a sentence. 

I had such a great time working with her. Our styles differed enough to make things interesting for those who came to see us. At one point all I could say to Natalie was, "You're amazing." I still stand by that. 

Both she and her husband, Dr. Steve Hodak, went out of there way to make the trip such a great time for me. I can't forget Ally. What a lovable punkin! LOL To Natalie, Steve, Ally, and all of you I had the pleasure of meeting, and the honor of serving while I was in PA, "THANK YOU. It was a trip I won't soon forget." 

Blessings,

Anthony

Two Mediums with messages

Natalie arranged for a small group session to be conducted at her office. Since her daughter had a doctor's appointment, we had lunch across the street from her office, and then they left me to my own devices while they went to the appointment. 

Girard, PA, where Natalie's office is located is a quaint little town. I'm not sure exactly how much of it I saw, but I walked up and down what appeared to be the town's main street, stopping in an occasional store. Eventually I ended up in a large grocery store wearing my, "Trust me. I'm psychic," t-shirt. Since this is Natalie's home town, and she's regularly featured on a radio show, as well as an article coming out about her in the town newspaper that day, I was surprised at the way people were looking at me when they read my shirt. 

I ended up passing time sitting in a cafe right around the corner from Natalie's office. I called her about 5:45 pm. Good thing I did; the event was supposed to start at 6 p.m. When the time for the event came, it was a good turn out. Natalie and I both gave readings that connected with people. A lot of tissue was passed out, and used that night. 

I, and other Mediums have been accused of researching the backgrounds of those we do discernments with. Honestly, I don't know how to do that sort of thing to begin, nor do I want to know. Secondly, I didn't recognize anyone who came to the session that night, except for one young lady who was at the television taping last Thursday. The only reason I recognized her was that she is 11 years old! 

On top of that, I don't know, and I'm not told names ahead of time. I prefer it that way. Keeps me from being confused. 

After the event was done, it was back to the campgrounds. I tried to light a fire for all of those who came through that night, and the entire trip, but for the life of me I couldn't get the fire to light! I blame it on the logs being damp with all of the rain. I gave up and was soon fast asleep. 

Wouldn't you know it? The next morning I woke up and all that remained of the logs were ashes. I guess I got the fire started after all. I just wasn't up long enough to enjoy it. I'm sure that those on the Other Side did though! 

Goldfish CPR and a reading!

Since the retreat wasn't taking place, Natalie, Steve, and their daughter Alexa (Ally) and I spent the afternoon at the campgrounds. Natalie cooked up hamburgers and hot dogs, and served a great dessert. 

As we were eating, Denise, a bereaved mom and friend of Natalie's stopped by with a goldfish she and her fiance won at a fair. They gave the fish to Ally. Ally quickly named the fish "Splashy." 

Well, after transferring Splashy from the plastic bag it was in to a Tupperware container, the fish died. 

(Pausing for a moment of silence)

Ally who is seven years old, didn't take it well. She started crying and insisting that Steve do something to save the fish. So Steve did. He started giving the fish CPR. Yes, he brought the fish up to his mouth and blew into it, giving it a couple gentle squeezes after each breath.

(Pausing to give you a moment to get a visual of this)

Well, when Natalie saw this she tried to hold her breath to keep from laughing out loud, but tears started streaming down her face. Ally saw this and ran over to her, distressed about her fish, demanding to know what was wrong with Natalie. 

"Nothing honey. I'm just sad about Splashy," Natalie told her and then covered her face. Between Natalie's tears, laughter that sounded like sobs coming from behind her hands, and her shoulders going up and down, Ally believed that Natalie really was grieving the passing of Splashy. 

Ally ran back to see how Steve was coming along with his resuscitation efforts, and I asked Natalie to confirm the fish's name for me. "Ally. Ally honey," I said to her as gently and as seriously as I could, "I'm hearing a name. The name I'm hearing is "Splashy." Do you know who that is?"

"That's my fish," Ally sobbed. 

"Oh, well, Splashy wants me to tell you he's okay, and he's in fishy heaven. He also wants you to know that he has a sister named "Goldy." If Denise goes to a pet store and looks carefully, she'll be able to find Goldy. Splashy told me he wants you to be a mommy to his sister. She needs a mommy. Okay?" 

"Okay," Ally said. Of course, she wanted Denise to go find "Goldy" right then and there. Luckily, Natalie, Steve and Denise were able to convince Ally that Monday was a better day to find Splashy's sister. After a proper burial, Ally was calm, and soon riding her bike up and down the campgrounds. 

When we were chiding Steve about giving a fish CPR he said, "It worked in the Dr. Doolittle movie with a hamster. I figured, why wouldn't work on a fish?" Good times. 

Lilly Dale

The original plan was for Natalie, Steve and I to go to Ohio for a bereaved parents retreat. That didn't work out, so we decided to go Lilly Dale, New York instead. 

When they came to pick me up, Natalie told me that since the editor's position with the international newspaper, Spiritualist News International was vacated she was promoted from the American Associate Editor to Editor. Guess who the position of American Associate Editor was offered to? 

Yup, you guessed it! I happily accepted the position. 

This was my first visit to Lilly Dale, the birthplace of the Spiritualist movement. It's kind of a town within a town. Natalie was explaining to me that in order to reside there, at least one member of the household must be a member of a Spiritualist church. 

Some of the houses had signs advertising that someone in it was a Medium. In order to be able to do that, the person who hung out the shingle had to have passed a "board test." Essentially, they had to be able to do a reading that provided proof of the continuation of life. 

When we arrived in Lilly Dale we went to the famous "Inspiration Stump." The stump is a tree stump that Mediums used to stand on to give readings. Standing on it allowed them to better see people in the crowd. There is a small iron fence around the stump which wasn't there, Natalie and Steve told me, when they were married there less than a year ago. 

There was a group of people there, mostly women, with a woman in front of them who was doing readings. As they broke up to leave I asked one of the women what was going on. "It's a class," she told me,  "a two year class."

"What's it about?" I asked. 

"It's a two year class," she repeated. 

"I heard that," I told her. "What do you learn in this two year class?"

"You can learn spiritual healing, mediumship, or both. It's a two year class." 

Did I mention she told me it was a two year class? I don't know if she kept repeating it to impress me with the commitment everyone there made, or simply to impress me with the idea that it was a "two year class." Either way, I wasn't all that impressed. 

Later I met a charming woman named Sharon. Sharon is the National Secretary for the National Association of Spiritualist Churches. She also married Natalie and Steve. 

It was a good time visiting a town I had only previously read about. 

Television taping

My friend Camille drove me to DIA where I was flying out of to Erie, PA. When I booked the flight, there was a 30 minute layover in Cleveland, Ohio, so you can imagine my surprise when my ticket showed that I was arriving in Cleveland 5 minutes after my connecting flight was boarding! 

To make matters worse, the gate I was supposed to be at was on the other side of the airport! Oh, and did I mention that my flight was thirty minutes late leaving, AND arriving? To Continental Airlines credit, they did hold the connecting flight until I, and several other passengers arrived. 

When I finally did get to Erie International Airport, Natalie Smith-Blakeslee and her husband, Dr. Steve Hodak were waiting for me. Somehow, despite it all, I was only about 15 minutes late to EIA. 

Natalie and I had spoken over the phone and through e-mails numerous times, but this was the first time we were meeting face to face. We all went to grab a bite to eat, and then it was off to the studio to tape a television show. 

The show went over very well. Natalie and I had a great chemistry together, and it was easy to work with her. I also found out what a talented Medium she really is. There was a great contrast between us in a number of different ways, especially in the way we delivered information. I ended up thinking of it as the "East Coast," and "West Coast" styles of Mediumship. 

One young lady came up for a reading which went over very well. So well, that she didn't even respond to Natalie, just kept looking at her stunned. Natalie asked her if she was okay, and she just nodded and said, "You're amazing!" I can second that. 

During the break, I told her that her father had more to say to her, much more. So she, her sister, her daughter and I went off by ourselves and I gave her a reading off camera. She did a little interview afterwards on camera and I explained that sometimes when someone on the Other Side has passed wants to convey private information they'll wait for a more discreet time. 

Another reason for this is that if they weren't the type of person to speak in a public setting when they were alive, they'd be reluctant to do so even after they have passed. 

After the taping, Natalie and Steve to me to the camper trailer they own in a campgrounds near their home. All in all, it was a great time meeting Natalie and Steve, and spreading the message that death doesn't end life, love or relationships to an audience who had never heard of me before.