The Turtle

I usually give my father a talisman before he leaves so it can protect him during the year and keep us connected. Ever since I started talking about the Goddess, ritual and magic, he has expressed interest in learning more. He created an altar in his house for Kuan Yin, he lights candles, he burns incense, he follows the moon calendar and he loves talismans.

This year, I decided to give him a crystal turtle that I had on my altar for sometime. This turtle symbolized steadiness, strength, perseverance and patience. Little did I know that slowness was part of the deal for this particular turtle. In five years my dad has been coming to visit, we never experienced delays in flights or any issues at the airport. This year was the exception that confirmed the rule.

It all started when we arrived in San Francisco International Airport and the line seemed to not move. My dad was getting anxious, everyone before him seemed to have some sort of issue and he felt stressed out but like everything in life, there is harmony. The lady that checked him in offered me a pass to go through security and be able to take him to the gate so we got to spend a wonderful hour inside the airport shopping, having coffee and enjoying each other's company for the last few minutes we would spend together till next year.

As soon as I got home, I found out my dad's trip from Miami to Montevideo was cancelled. I looked online and saw all planes to Buenos Aires were cancelled. I looked at the newspaper from Argentina and it said there was a volcanic cloud covering Buenos Aires and all flights were cancelled. I started stressing out because now my father would be stranded in the Miami airport for a day or who knows how long. Luckily, he called me that night and told me he was in a hotel and he was going to go to Dallas the following day and fly to Buenos Aires. Before hanging up, he said "this is the Turtle trip, slowly but surely."

The following day, I monitor his flights using the internet. Miami to Dallas was a breeze but when he got to Dallas, the plane started getting delayed. From leaving at 7:30, it changed to 8:30; 9:30; 10:30; until they said it was going to leave at 7 am next day. Now I was wondering if he had gone to Dallas after all and I had no communication.

Today, I spent all day stressed out wondering if he would be on his way back home or stranded in another airport. I started worrying something may have happened to him and all my demons came to life. Luckily, I called him at the time I thought he would be home if he had been on that airplane and he picked up. Once I heard his voice, everything became good again and I could breath and smile. He was home. He was safe.

He told me the stories about how the turtle had symbolized his trip since it took him over two days to get home when it usually takes only a day. Slowly but surely he made his way back home. He made friends. He talked about solidarity and how people come together when things don't go the way they planned. He gave me hope that human beings can still show care for one another and be ready to give a hand to those in need. He told me how it was an adventure but taught him he could survive anywhere. He washed his clothes by hand and dried them with the hair dryer since his bad was on its way to Montevideo. Overall, his adventure show me that we need to have faith, we need to believe that we have others watching over us, our little angels, our protectors, those spirits that will look after us when we face challenges and that when we are in need, we need to be like the turtle, slow but steady, strong and persevere because in the end, the lesson is for us to learn and we always get help.

Blessings )0(