The Feathers

Several years ago, I came to Silverton for six weeks in July and August to do some healing.  My neighbor had suggested I contact her daughter’s Father who lived in Silverton and owned an art gallery.  The Gallery owner and I became good friends and he offered me the apartment above the gallery in exchange for working in the gallery one day a week.  While working in the gallery, I fell in love with these feather earrings.  There was a whole variety of beautiful earrings made of various types of feathers of so many beautiful colors.  I hadn’t been able to wear earrings for years because the weight of them irritated my ears, so I stopped wearing them, but these earrings were so beautiful, I had to try them.  I found that these were the perfect earrings.  Light as a feather!  Oh, wait!  They were feathers.  So, I bought about five pair during the course of my stay there.

Over the years, I never found earrings quite like these, and I wanted more; especially since I lost one of the pure white one’s that I loved so much.  Even in Costa Rica with all the colorful birds dropping their feathers, there were still none as beautiful as the one’s I had.

When returning to Silverton, I fully intended on finding out if I could get more of these earrings. My friend, the Gallery owner, had moved from the area and a woman had taken over the space.   I ran into another old friend in the local coffee house who told me that the woman who made the earrings died and the remaining supply were across the street at the “White Eyes Gallery.”  I went over to the Gallery the next day and connected with the woman who owned the Gallery.  She was nearly in tears telling me about how honored she was that the feather artists husband, had chosen her gallery to carry the remainder of her earrings and he was just in this morning to say hi.

There they were!  All the beautiful earrings.  How does one choose.  I picked out four pair, and fortunately was able to replace the pair of white earrings I so loved.  I talked to the shop owner about her relationship with the artist and how sad it was to lose her.  Although I probably only met the artist and her husband once or twice while working in the gallery years ago, I felt the pain and loss of the woman who sold me the earrings.  We had exchanged stories about the earrings and how I discovered them.  She carefully wrapped them up in a box and said our goodbyes.

Several days later I attended an outdoor music concert in Silverton.  I got my little folding chair and sat right up front, decked out in my hair feathers and new earrings and an older gentleman came up to say hi to me.  We talked a bit and he asked if he could sit down.  We talked more and he said “I make feathers.”  I then understood why he was drawn to me.  It was my feathers.  I showed him my feather earrings and he said “those are mine.”  I put two and two together and said “Oh, your wife just died.”  He said “yes.”  It had been a year, but they had been married for forty years and I could see he was still sad and grieving the loss of his life partner.

It was such a powerful coincidence around these feathers.  I had the opportunity to meet and talk with the husband of the artist who brought me these beautiful works of art.  Another full circle experience.