Life after death: the story of the green donkey

This is the true story of what Deepak Chopra would call a “Whopper”. It is a story so touched by the hand of God that it seems almost impossible to believe and yet there can be NO doubt for those of us who are believers that this really happened!

My best friend switched to Spirit on May 15, 2004 at the age of 45, after a 10-year battle with HER-2 breast cancer. We had spent 40 years weaving the fabric of our lives together in a dance that was simply magical. Ours is a long history of love and friendship. It is difficult to convey in a few words the meaning of this miracle, but I will try.

Two years ago, Karen started having severe headaches and felt “weird.” We were headed to a healing weekend in upstate New York and had a great time. It was just the two of us driving around in the car, laughing and enjoying each other’s company. At one point, she got very serious and she told me that she thought the chemotherapy might be causing these symptoms. She was struggling as to whether or not to stop chemotherapy and let God do her work. I told her that it was a big decision and that she should not be taken lightly. I am a big believer in asking God to give us a sign when we need an answer to an important or not so important question. Because this was a VERY important question, I told him that he needed to ask for a sign that was unquestionable! Something so “unusual” that it could only be from God. So I said, “How about we see a green donkey? Then you can stop chemotherapy.” She laughed and said, “That sounds great.” The rest of the weekend we look for a green donkey. We found yellow pigs, purple cows, red dogs and even a green horse. But we knew it had to be a “Green Burro”. We even spent the next afternoon in Woodstock, New York, checking all the stores, but we never found a green donkey.

A week later, the headaches continued and an MRI was done. Her father also passed away from Alzheimer’s this week. On the morning of his funeral, she received a phone call from his oncologist telling her that the cancer had spread to his brain. She went through the whole day, a big funeral, and she never told anyone except her husband what she had found out that morning. She had courage beyond human strength. She survived massive brain surgery and radiation and lived two more years. She passed away on May 15, 2004 surrounded by her entire family.

What follows is what I said at his funeral (attended by 700 people). Notice the part about the “green donkey” towards the end.

I have had the pleasure of knowing Karen for over 40 years and calling her one of my best and dearest friends. But I know I’m just one of countless best friends Karen had… there was something about her that made you want to be around her and get to know her better. Reminds me of the Carpenters song.

the day you were born

The angels gathered

And decided to create a dream come true

So they sprinkled moon dust in your golden hair

And the light of the stars in your eyes of blue.

That’s why all the girls in town

Follow you everywhere.

Just like me, they long to be

Near you.

To Karen’s family…she was mother, wife, sister, daughter, and cousin, but to the vast majority of us here today, she was our friend. She was a friend in the purest sense and that she was there for each of us no matter what was going on in her life. Remarkable, selfless, trustworthy, sincere, kind, compassionate, spiritual, and beautiful are words that can only begin to describe Karen.

In addition to being a friend, Karen was a teacher. She taught me more about strength and courage than she ever wanted to know. When my son was sent to Afghanistan last October, he came to me one day like an angel sent from God. She hugged me, cried with me and instilled in me “The Power of Now”. This gave me a strength I didn’t know I had. If I can take a tenth of her strength and live the rest of my life, then I’ll be happy.

I will miss his human presence more than I can imagine right now… his spirit while on this Earth was immeasurable. What I look forward to from this day on is how she will guide, love and watch over each of us in her new strength found in her SPIRIT.

And so I say to you, my dear Karen, “God bless you on this new journey you’ve embarked on. I know Dad was holding your green donkey and that now you know all the Divine Order that it is so difficult for us to understand here on Earth. I laugh at the thought of our next life together and ask you, Sister Karen, to hold the abbey until I get there.”

When I got home from his duty that night, there was a message on my answering machine from my son, who was in Afghanistan serving in the US Army. He had never, ever called on a weeknight since he deployed, until that night. This in itself told me a lot. He made me sad that I missed the call from him, but I knew he was okay and surely he sent me some love from afar, even though he still didn’t know about Karen’s death. Karen had given me so much comfort and support while she was alive regarding her deployment and no matter what was going on in her life, she always asked how my son was doing.

That same night, the phone rang again around 2:30 am and it was my son. What a joy to hear his voice! We talked for about 20 minutes and during the conversation he mentioned that his best friend and teammate of his had put new photos on a website of them in Afghanistan. I put this information in my mind to take a look the next day.

The next morning I went with Karen’s family to a private burial and then spent the rest of the day with them. I got home around 4:00 and read some emails and then remembered to see the new photos. (5 days have passed since her death). There was a new folder called “the month of May”. I opened this and started looking for pictures of my son. There were about 20 new photos. Halfway down the page I noticed an image titled “Donkey.” In the small picture format it looked more like a green tree. I opened the photo to its full size and almost fell to the ground…for there, sent from a war-torn country by an American soldier, was Karen’s sign that she had been healed, not on this Earth, but oh in heaven! It was a picture of a donkey with a bundle of GREEN branches tied around it. I knew that if I involved my son in giving me this sign, I would succeed, because I would NEVER stop looking at these images.

For me, there is also great meaning in the real “green donkey” that he gave us. I always thought this sign would come in the form of an inanimate object or be the name of a bar or restaurant. I NEVER thought that the green donkey would actually be a “living donkey”. But yes, Karen’s donkey was ALIVE as were the green branches that adorned it. Karen lives in Spirit and she will always be alive for those of us who knew her. The news of this green donkey brought peace to her family and our community. I feel her presence with me always and I thank her for her continued care and love.

To see the actual image of the green donkey, visit my website at http://isurrenderthis.com/
Click on the “About Us” page and then on the wording Green Donkey Marketing, LLC. Scroll to the bottom to see the photo.