I came across an old list of references that my ex-husband used to take with him when he applied for work. We have been divorced for more than a decade and there is absolutely no reason I should still have this list of references in my files. Everything from that time of my life other than important documents should have been thrown out long ago, but there it was with the birth certificates.
Barb Nicholson was the first name on the list. She was the owner of a horse Ranch where my ex-husband had worked for a few years. She had been a nice woman, but we found her to be rather odd; kooky. She had written a book about communicating with animals and it had a lot of spiritual woo-woo stuff in it. Little did I know at the time how much all that woo-woo stuff would resonate with the future me.
I have thought about Barb quite a few times in recent years and regretted that I hadn’t known her at a time that I was open to what she may have had to teach me. I had skimmed through her book and found it interesting, but I really just wasn’t ready for it at that time in my life. I had thought it might be interesting to read it again with my new perspective.
There was her name with the address of the ranch and her phone number. Thoughts began to run thought my mind. What were the odds that her number had not changed? She would be about 80 now; was she even alive? Why did it matter? What would I say if I called, and it was still her number? How silly it would be to call some woman I barely knew, out of the blue, more than 15 years since I’d last seen her. And yet, I felt like I was supposed to. Why else would the number have shown up?
So, I took a deep breath and called. A woman who did not sound nearly 80, one who sounded pretty young and energetic answered the phone. I timidly said I was trying to reach Barb Nicholson, to which the woman replied that she was her. I explained to her who I was and how I came across her number and asked if there were any copies of her book available.
We talked for about 30 minutes or so and it was a very good feeling conversation. I felt I had found someone my soul was meant to connect with. She promised to send me a copy of her book and advised me to really commit to the Course in Miracles workbook (that I had not told her I was currently practicing in a wishy washy, once in a while, kind of way). She also told me to be sure to write about our phone call and all other incidents such as it, what she called ah-ha moments, where I just knew I supposed to do something, did it, and it turned out to be just the right thing.
I don’t know what good will come from the conversation or from reading the book, but I know good will come of it. I feel it was something of great importance and I am excited to find out why as I continue on.