As the moon passed over the sun in August’s eclipse, my cousin, Craig, peacefully eclipsed this life.

Throughout his adult life, my cousin, Craig, had his share of health issues, stemming from Cancer, to Lyme’s disease, to Multiple Sclerosis. Being a Scientist, whether it was a macrobiotic diet or something else he tried, he always found ways to either heal, or at least keep these diseases at bay. But, later on in his life, Craig came to experience complications from some of these debilitating diseases that left him struggling and unable to overcome.

It was February of 2017 when things took a turn for the worse. Craig came down with an infection that he couldn’t shake. The writing was on the wall. His loved ones knew his inevitable passing was closing in on both, him and them.

Recently, in August, as Craig was fading in and out of consciousness, he was talking out-loud to unseen people. Shannon, his wife and a nurse as well, must have wondered who he was talking to, and what it all meant. Then suddenly, Craig piped up with some coherence and excitement to say, “Hi Margaret!” This was Craig’s Aunt Margaret, who, while alive, was always a nice motherly figure to her brother’s children. Margaret passed away over a decade ago.

So when Shannon heard Craig’s coherent response to an unseen being, who was obviously Aunt Margaret, she suddenly had the clarity of mind to say to Craig, “Follow Margaret!” And… he immediately did.

Sadly, for us, Craig left this realm on August 21, 2017.

It is commonly known that a deceased loved one comes to receive us from this world and escort us to the next. But not everyone has this comforting first-hand witness, as did Shannon. If this was not amazing enough, it was WHEN it happened, that made Craig’s sojourn from this world into the next, extraordinary.

Since Craig was a Scientist, no doubt he found the coming eclipse fascinating. In fact, some of his friends, who live across the United States in Utah, knew he would appreciate it when they wrote to tell him about their plans of traveling to Idaho to get the full effect of this solar eclipse.

solar-eclipse-2017 Pixabay

Well… it just so happened that while his friends were gazing into the heavens and getting a good look at the eclipse, along with everyone else who could view it, Craig crossed over during this amazing time of awe and wonder!

It was just a few months earlier that my Aunt Catherine was resting in her bed with open eyes, when she saw her son, Craig, walk by her! What did it mean, she thought? Was he coming for a visit? Had he already crossed over? Am I imagining this?

While all of these were valid questions to wonder about at the time, now we can see that it was most likely that Craig was loosened out of his body, and traveling across the States to his familiar childhood home to see his mom. In this case, it was probably a sign to his mother that Craig’s time on Earth was wrapping up and he was getting ready to fly away from this physical existence and the 28-year battle with disease in his body that weighed him down.

But… for those who knew and loved Craig, and, who also thought the eclipse was incredible, it was even more incredible that Craig chose this particular time to make his journey from this stage of life.

Watching the eclipse, myself, then, hearing about Craig’s passing after the fact, his timing made perfect sense to me. As the Scientist he always was, and with his crossing over at that particular time, I thought… in an amazing and profound way, as the moon eclipsed the sun, Craig eclipsed this life when he crossed over to the next realm.

Although Craig will be missed, he is pain-free now. Fly Craig, fly! Our thoughts of love are with you, always. Until we meet again…

photo credit: Geralt/Pixabay