Hopefully that caught your attention? You see as I was driving recently along busy Stirling Highway in sunny old Perth, the nemesis of living in the western suburbs, a brilliant brainwave came to me. A surge of inspiration, a new way of seeing things.

If you have read my blogs for awhile now you may know that my family are dead. All dying in a short miserable clump. I am still not over it and my satirical wit may prove that. My bubbling brilliance of an idea goes a little like this.

Why don’t we think of dying as like a holiday? Our dead loved ones are simply on a brilliant holiday, enjoying the best of the best in vacation care, feeling youthful, enjoying immense freedoms and sumptuous extravagance on the most luxurious of holidays one could only imagine. One can only hope right?

I do know that we will meet our loved ones again. We have to. We simply must. Life was too good when we were all together, how could it be even remotely possible that we would never see each other again? Humans that have such a personal impact, such a loving connection, such a loving unconditional connection, it is impossible to imagine anything other than an imminent blissful reunion.

So while my loved ones are on holidays, having a brilliant time catching up with all their other family and friends, I simply have to enjoy the scenery while they are away. We all do. Life can feel like a bumper car ride, smashing into boundaries, jerking left and right with indecision or choice; there really is no secret one way proves best formula. But we do all have the option to choose a wonderful life. Happiness is a choice, and we all need to decide what is best for us, to live our best lives, and most memorable lives possible.

My parents visit me in my dreams and this is kind of like getting a postcard, from their unknown holiday destination. They seem to be having a brilliant time, and always appear well, refreshed, youthful and happy to see me. We hug and chat and catch up and then in the morning I awake and boom, alone once again. Sad face.

Knowing my loved ones are on a holiday makes me feel less sad and bad and slightly mad. I know they are enjoying themselves and having a great time and I want to be happy for them. They lived their lives, battled and cheered through their trials and tribulations and now they are reaping the rewards of bliss, freedom, joy and spirit lightness, enjoying the best holiday of their life.

It is important to remain grounded here and enjoy our earthly life. Because no matter how grand life is when you are dead, living here on Earth is apparently better. For appearance sakes, death looks ghastly. It is horrendous, trust me, I have seen it enough times now. And physically, poof, you just don’t exist anymore, you are literally burnt into ash, spooky. But we need to maintain the ideal thought that somewhere, somehow, our loved ones exist in another dimension, on a blissful fun packed holiday.

While we are on the topic of death, I want to make mention of the awesome festival known as the “Day of the Dead”. I was privileged to experience this wonderful festival one year when I was living in Guatemala. Now Guatemalans really know how to celebrate their dead people. They decorate graves with a multiple flurry of colour, incense burns, green grasses and bright orange marigolds decorate graves and people dress up and sit around drinking and smoking cigars. They also build and design kites and fly them high into the sky. The flapping slap noises help the spirits pass into the afterlife. I had a great time on this day, and this experience is forever burned in my memory for being fabulous and a wonderful day to respect and show love to our dead people. At this time all my people were all alive, but I realise now that perhaps this festival was preparing me for something…

I believe we will see our dead ones again. We will get to play, to celebrate, to have fun and reminisce on the good old days, our earthly lives, and perhaps we will have a chance to design it all over again. Next time I hope I can stay in the picture for a little longer please. It is hard to comprehend I have to live the rest of my life without them in it. That is a potential 30 or 40 or dare I say 50 years if I make it to a ripe old lady age, without them. That honestly makes me want to cry. And break out in hives, or shingles, or some horrible rash. No, think positive, imagine what I could do and achieve in this time!? So much time.

I believe with all my heart we will be with our loved ones again, reunited on the other side, where ever that ‘side’ might be. I hope and dream they are having a grand holiday and I know they miss me as much as I miss them. I was the apple in their eyes. Both of them. I believe it as much as I believe in aliens. But that is for another post!

Anita xx

“The life of the dead is set in the memory of the living.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero