The beginning of forever

     Eric is my love.  He is an amazing being.....  He handcrafts longboards for a living, right out of our home in his shop.  He is gifted in the art of painting, gardening, music, communication, and being an attentive father to his newborn baby daughter, Enala Hazel Myers.  I'm so happy Eric is in my life.
     We met in the 8th grade (not formally) and  I recall running down the halls of Roosevelt Middle School, yelling "burn the bra!!!" as I sped on by.  I was always dressed in some outrageous handmade outfit, that I probably put together the night before, while Eric was styled up in a button up shirt and sweater vest.
     Eric remembered me, for many years later he approached me at a celebration downtown.  He said, "Tabitha is that you....?"  I didn't know what to say, and I did not remember his name.We were both 22 at the time and very free. Later that night he took me in his arms under the full moon and gave me the best kiss ever.
     That was the highlight, for neither of us wanted to tell the other how deeply we cared.  So life passed.  He is so good about remembering a friends special day, and always came to my birthday parties.


     If you were to watch our relations up close, I'm sure you'd have said "finally,"when at the age of 27 he said with passion  "I love you".
     He came to me, after years of longing to be with him and subconsciously waiting.  I thought Eric was saying, "I love you" in the way a dear friend says it. As an independent individual, I really did not take it to heart.  Weeks passed, then something changed in me after looking back at a text he written while away in San Francisco, "I'm ready to love you now, come back to Eugene."  I showed a friend.  We both laughed the kind of girly laugh when jumping on the bed in pajamas at an all girls slumber party.

Eric in his booth at holiday market.

 I had been gone from our home town Eugene for two years and wasn't planning on returning, I swear that hometowns have a way of luring a person back in.  After the long drive from San Fran to the Eug,  I went straight to his house.  He had just come home from Holiday Market and answered the door in his straw hat.  He looked me in the eyes and then held me close in his arms. I think that was the only time I knocked at the door, because after my arrival, I was so loved and cared for by this beautiful soul, I didn't want to go anywhere.

 I had been longing to go on a vacation to Maui.  Eric's sister Adriane had lived in Haiku for a year or two and so we talked about going to visit.  We booked the trip for February, and were there for two weeks.  In that time we went sailing, swimming, and camping.  Of course, Eric brought ten of his longboards to sell, so he pedaled them and skated wherever we went.  We met some really wonderful people on our journeys and were referred to a beautiful cabin on private property that had three fresh spring fed pools, avocado trees that dropped their fruit on the roof of our cabin and a variety citrus trees not far down the jungle path.  The Kings pool was the largest of the three pools and it was flanked by a very large sacred cave.  The Queens pool meandered further down the property to a seventy to eighty foot waterfall with views to the ocean.

     Prior to going to Maui, my grandmother Ruth had given me a ring that belonged to my grandfather.  She encouraged me to ask Eric for his hand in marriage.  When she asked, I laughed and said "thats silly", yet she told me that our love was real and had good feeling he would say yes. That made me a little nervous because I had never thought of myself as the marrying type. On the other hand I do believe in ceremony and had loved Eric for years.

     I took the ring from my grandmother, cleared its energy, cleansed it in the ocean, and hid it in a safe spot.  I knew that the right time would present itself to present it to Eric.  We explored the land and found  ourselves in the cave near the Kings pool.  It was so big had a sweet humid aroma.  It reminded me of the scent of cold wet moss you might find in the Pacific Northwest, mmmm.

     I felt there had been ceremonies within this cave in decades past by the people of this land, and could feel the spirit world very close.  I asked Eric "Do you feel a presence?"  He said he felt his grandfather Edward.  I felt mine as well, realizing that this was a sign. I trusted my grandfather when he was alive.  Even now in the spirit world, I felt he is still guiding me.  I got really close to Eric and said, "I have something for you," and I had him open a pouch.  Inside was the ring and several crystals.  After a moment of silence, I said "Do you know what I'm saying?"  He said "Yes" with passion, responded with a kiss and embraced me in silence.

Eric with nephew Azlan in Hawaii

Sacred sailing

  


  
     During the Holiday Market, two months prior to our beautiful trip to Hawaii. Eric had a vision of me pregnant and showed excitement in his depiction to me.  Shortly after we got back from Maui, we talked further about children because I felt a spirit wanting to come in to our lives.  He was so excited when I mentioned opening up to the possibility of allowing this female spirit to take form.

mmmm flowers

     We were so in the moment, and months later I became obsessed with finding the kitten of my dreams, even though I don't really favor cats.  That was a little out of the ordinary.  I also wanted to find a glider rocker, I told myself, "It sure feels good to rock."  My sister Seani just so happened to be at our house when the glider rocker was being delivered.  I mentioned to her that I wanted to find a kitten as well.  Right at that moment, she said "your pregnant," I laughed and said "maybe." Later that night I bought a test, and sure enough, I was. When I told Eric, he was a little upset that I did not go through the process of finding out with him, and I jokingly said "Did you want to hold the pee stick, honey?"  When I thought about how sincere he was in wanting to participate in everything, I realized that I'm not in this life alone anymore.