Jeri K. Tory Conklin

Learning to fly

As I looked back at the picture of Rita, I realized Rita was free as well. She had learned to fly. Lizzy had captured her spirit perfectly.

Second Edition of When Spirits Speak: Messages from the Spirit Children (2012).

From the back of my group of children who had come forth to tell their stories as missing children, an older tall, thin, deathly pale-looking girl stepped forward. Her eyes sunken into their sockets, and her long blonde hair, nothing but knots and tangles, fell across her shoulders and down her back. She appeared to be pregnant.

           “Rita, my name is Rita,” she said.

          “Hello Rita, thank you for coming forward today. Do you want to write a letter to your parents or anyone in particular?”

I want to write a letter to the man who kidnapped, abused, and raped me. Now, look where I am! And I want to write a letter to this unborn child asking forgiveness for what I am about to do. I can’t change what happened to me, but I can for this child.

(Rita pointed to her expanded belly.)

He thinks I should be grateful to be pregnant. Pregnant with his bast bastard. Being pregnant is the only reason I am still alive if you could call it being “alive.” There is nothing noble in this picture. The only noble thing is that I can deliver this child to an adoptive family and watch her grow from Heaven. I see no other options for me at this time.

                 “Rita, how far along are you? You are still alive and not in spirit already.”

I am almost ready to deliver. I am still alive, living on the streets, thanks to that a$$hole. He kidnaps young girls, gets them pregnant, and then leaves them to wander the streets as homeless people. Are we homeless? Maybe we are just walking dead? Perhaps we are nothing but trash – used, abused, and thrown away for some new shiny toy.

Others in his evil web just kill themselves rather than go home to their families and face condemnation. Pretty sad when they return home and are blamed for their condition. “Choices have consequences” is such a cruel term. Why do people think we ask to be kidnapped and put into these horrible situations?

“Because the reality of the phrase is true. You made that choice long before you came into this lifetime for your soul’s growth. You made all your life choices then. You may not have been conscious of them once you got here, but in your pre-birth planning sessions, you considered all the options and lessons from this encounter. Your soul group comprised of this man and this unborn child all took part so that you could grow your soul.”

∞ ∞ ∞

By the time I finished writing this new edition (2022), Rita had come in to tell me she was leaving. She could no longer live with all that had happened to her. However, she did deliver her baby, a beautiful girl, to adoptive parents who would love her forever. It wasn’t a decision she took lightly, but one she felt she had to make for herself. Her Guardian Angel was with her as she stood before me. I hugged her, knowing she had made the most grown-up adult decision she would ever make in this lifetime – giving up her child.

My own group of spirit children gathered around me, all holding hands. Tears, happy tears, rolled down my cheeks as we watched Rita and her angel ascend into the Light, knowing that she would again find the love she had missed in the last few years of this life and that she would again be beautiful and whole. I’m sure I will see her again, she promised to “pop in” now and again, and I have no doubt she will.” (Excerpt)

∞ ∞ ∞

When I first saw Lizzy McNett’s “Rita” design – I cried for many reasons remembering Rita. Rita had been kidnapped as a 13-year-old when my spirit children brought her forth for me to tell her story. Rita had been anything but “free.” Her soul and spirit both had died on so many levels.

I stepped back because she was being portrayed as a “free spirit of sorts.” Rita was anything but that when I met her. However, as I remembered back, another memory flashed before me. Marjorie Giles wrote the Foreword to the First Edition of When Spirits Speak: Messages from the Spirit Children (2012).

Marjorie had also written a book on her childhood. She asked me to read it before sending it to the publisher. I could barely get through the first couple of chapters. Her parents had so horribly abused her and her brother that it was unconscionable even to think a parent could do to their children what was done to them. I had to tell her I couldn’t read further; it ripped me apart on so many fronts. I had to be honest. I’m not sure anyone could read it with all the horror that went on. Marjorie looked at me and said: “But Jeri, we learned to fly.” I didn’t understand it then – learned to fly. A year later, Marjorie was dying, and I went to see her. She asked if I had figured it out yet “…learned to fly,” and I told her, “No.” She smiled and said: “When we learned to fly, we were able to leave our bodies and fly away from the pain and horror of what was happening to us.” With that, she passed. She had flown away once again and was finally free.

∞ ∞ ∞

As I finished writing this new edition, Rita came in to tell me she was leaving. She could no longer live with all that had happened to her. She did deliver her baby, a beautiful girl, to adoptive parents who would love her forever. It wasn’t a decision she took lightly, but one she felt she had to make for herself. Her Guardian Angel was with her as she stood before me. I hugged her, knowing she had made the most grown-up adult decision she would ever make in this lifetime – giving up her child.

          My own group of spirit children gathered around me, all holding hands. Tears, happy tears, rolled down my cheeks as we watched Rita and her angel ascend into the Light, knowing that she would again find the love she had missed in the last few years of this life and that she would again be beautiful and whole. I’m sure I will see her again, she promised to “pop in” now and again, and I have no doubt she will.” (Excerpt)

As I looked back at the picture of Rita, I realized Rita was free as well. She had learned to fly. Lizzy had captured her spirit perfectly.

Piece by piece – When the Picture Emerges

Looking back at my life this time, I realized that my dream had come true. I was working with Native American children and sharing my passion and skills with them. I was making a difference in their lives, and they were making a difference in mine.

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One More Trip Around the Sun

How did you spend the last year preparing for this year’s birthday? Same old, same old? Just getting by? At some point, it will catch up with you, and you will have to open the wounds, reframe the stories, and forgive your inner child and yourself. Why not do it for your next birthday?

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MESSAGE FROM THE MOTHER EARTH

I pulled the Gaia Gateway Activation card – Learning Experiences. Wisdom transmission. Earth Intelligence (Gateway of Light Activation Oracle deck, Kyle Gray). Thus began a conversation with Mother Earth this morning.

Did you know that our earth is a highly spiritual, intelligent, and aware being? Do you realize that no matter what has been done to her, she has managed to survive and thrive?

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