Twin Rainbow Angels & Christina
(June, July, August 2008)

Choosing this month’s front cover reminds me of all the angels in my life, of which I have many. Christina and her daughter Claire, created these two angels and gifted them to me a few festivals ago. They are so bright and cheerful that they deserve to be on the cover and were photographed by Victor, Christina’s husband. I first met Christina about eleven years ago when I was distributing magazines around Penticton, BC. I asked her if it was okay to leave a few copies in the waiting room of the office where she worked. She smiled and said, “It’s a great magazine,” so I stopped to chat for a few minutes. A few years later, she completed her Langara College Holistic Practitioner’s Program and rented space in the Holistic Health building. She volunteered to type articles and answer phones two days a week. In 2002, she taught a workshop at the Wise Women’s Weekend and offered more help if it was needed. I found her to be a great organizer and soon, she took over the Healing Oasis for both the Spring Festival and the Wise Women. In 2003, when I moved to Johnson’s Landing and wondered what I would do for a drop-off point in Penticton, Christina came to my rescue and offered me her newly-acquired office space. She continues to do the mailing out of Issues magazine, does the proof reading and reviews many books. She likes to cook and often creates meals for our get-togethers. She loves her healing work and is so enthusiastic it is contagious.
When Laurel decided not to continue hosting the Wise Women’s Weekend, it was Christina who convinced me that the event needed to continue, and even found a good friend who could help with registration. I reconfigured my print schedule to five editions a year to make room for resuming the organization of this special event. It does take time, but the energy flows easily and I love watching the magic happen. The Wise Women Festival is September 19-21 and the schedule is on the flip side of this magazine. This will be the 11th annual, so join us if you can!
Christina loves being creative, and this year she created angel name badges for the instructors and crew. Mine was a copy of an angel that she actually cross-stitched as a wedding gift for Richard and I in 2006. Richard’s badge was also very special … a favorite photo of myself at Findhorn, sitting in front of the winged doors of the Universal Hall. The wings were bigger than the badge, so they really stood out.
As I look around, I see so many angels in my life, including Richard and the beautiful painting I got from him for my wedding present that has graced both the front cover of Issues and the Johnson’s Landing Retreat Center calendar. The native drum near the wood stove I received from my brother David, which was hand-painted by Julie Draper and made by her husband, and has our totem animals on it, an angel and a duck … So many reminders hang on my walls and windows.
Another one of the angels that have flown into my life in the past few years to help out is Teresa Cline. She has a garage in Penticton where I store the extra Issues and my many garage sale items till I can load up for home. She baked us a huge cake for the 30th anniversary of the Spring Festival celebration, and she took over in the Festival store when my volunteer did not show up. She used to attend my yoga classes in Penticton and is now trained to be a nutritionist, reflexologist and Intuitive Healer. Then there is Marion Desborough, who organized the healers’ potlucks so we could keep our costs down and will be the registration person for the Women’s Festival.
Plus there is my old-time angel Terez in Kamloops, where I crash on my road trips, Diana who proof reads Musings, Kylie who created the Wise Women front cover and the many angels that have shown up with gifts of “presence” here at the Retreat Center – helping to cook, clean, garden, landscape and build, all the while teaching Richard and I what it means “to live in community.” I feel so grateful for all the love that is given that it makes my heart smile. I would also like to thank my loyal advertisers, who mostly make my job easy, and the readers who support them so that Issues can continue.