When I write to you, I feel closer to who I am.
I am the truest version of myself.
And even though I write to many thousands of people at the same time, I feel like I am just writing to you.
Imagine if all of our relationships were this way.
Where we could be the truest versions of ourselves.
If only, every relationship didn’t make us better, or worse but truer.
Almost like a zap. An adjustment back to the core self.
This is how it feels when I write to you.
I even forget that the rest of the world can also read this letter.
It is like being on stage sharing a moment with one person, forgetting that the audience is watching.
You made me an artist. A writer.
A lover of people. A creator of worlds.
It was always for you, and because of you.
Today is the 10 year anniversary since I started this journey.
I founded Second Firsts, on September 10th, 2010.
And I had no idea what I was doing.
Or how I was going to do it.
I just knew I wanted a better life for us.
For everyone who felt like an alien after the loss of someone they loved.
We were lost and afraid, confused and alone and the world didn’t know what to do with us.
I just wanted to hold your hand.
Make you feel less alone, less scared, less misunderstood.
Because of you, I forgot my own fears.
My own heartache.
You healed me as much as I healed you.
Because of this relationship, my life was worth fighting for.
For every day I did better, I could inspire you to do better.
For every day I loved myself more I could help you do the same.
And for every time I did the impossible you could believe you could too.
When I say I could not have done this without you, it could not be more true.
Here’s to the next ten years, where we get to do things we can’t possibly imagine.
With gratitude,
Christina
P.S. This week’s interview is for anyone who wants to change jobs, careers, passions.
Listen here.
Hi Christina,
While we getting ready to journey the other night I started to write this letter and just kept going.
I want to share with you my experience from a number of years ago when you first revealed to your Facebook followers that you were going to share with us a new path you had been pursuing and about this book. It was kind of your reveal. (I would love to watch and listen to it again) I had been following your posts on FB for quite awhile. You musings were comforting and life affirming and I treasured your pure acceptance of wherever we were in our journey. I looked forward to landing on your page.
When I followed other people it seemed as though there was a point where it was hinted that you don’t want to fall into this or that trap as if its a bad thing which just filled me with dread. With you that was not the case. You were there to help and lift up. It wasn’t a science project with pre-determined stages.
I had never heard anyone else seriously ask the question Where Did You Go. After my husband, George, passed there were many, many times I’d be on my front porch at night and look up at the sky and ask him “ WHERE ARE YOU! WHERE ARE YOU!” and thinking where can he be. He was just so alive and now……my mind just could not reconcile it.
On one of your FB posts you announced (out of the blue) that you were going to be releasing a book discussing what happens to our loved ones and about consciousness. I think you said you felt you had to put it out there and share it with us. My jaw dropped and time froze, in a good way. I never thought that was where you would be taking your followers. I can still remember feeling how surprisingly shocked I was. It was thrilling to know to hear someone talk about this subject.
You gave me some hope as I was pretty lost. You made me feel safe somehow because you seemed grounded and were fierce in your belief in this.
Thank you for risking your reputation. That had to be scary.
Christina, you continue to share yourself from an authentic place. It’s like there is an endless river of healing inside you that you are pulling from. You seem to be able to recall how you felt inside while going through all those years struggling to build a new life.
Your writing offers such insight into the different aspects of the grief and life. Your words heal. There is no shame.
I am so grateful for you and your books and the group. You are a treasure. Keep doing what you’re doing please.
Lorraine
Congratulations on your 10 year anniversary. I loved your letter!!!