Red-Headed Ryan- Life, Death and In Between

by

Karen Tallkat Conley

August, 2005. Hurricane Katrina, the largest and third strongest hurricane to ever make landfall in the United States, took thousands of lives. Millions were left homeless that summer.

I offered my services to help raise relief funds for New Orleans in a charity event in Florida.

I arrived early prepared to contribute to a worthy cause. I did not know it but I was about to have a completely unexpected experience.

One might think that in my line of work many things would be unexpected and/or surprising and you would be right but this was; different.

Setting up my booth I posted the information about my work as a psychic/intuitive medium including a comment from a client about the accuracy of information I gave her – which happened to be from her deceased German Shepherd.

She said she felt as if she was wrapped up in angel wings that day and had found peace after losing her companion.

Skeptics may not get it, but animals are able to connect with us this way. The method and their delivery may be different but the connection is quite real. What do animals have to say to humans? It ranges from profound to humorous.

I noticed a young boy, about nine years old with red hair and freckles poised over the information posted at my booth.

He was reading and rereading,line by line, tracing his finger along the sentences.

His lips moved as he read the words slowly to himself.

Being a polite boy, he waited until I was available and then shyly approached my table.

How can I help you? I inquired.

He thought about it for a minute, then took a seat in the chair at my table. He asked What does fizzic (psychic) mean?

That particular question can be a hard one. It is difficult even now when I teach about it. It seems to be something that is best understood by application instead of explanation.

I said was able to know things about people (like their secrets or their worries) and help them by talking about it.

He mentioned the part about the dog connecting to his owner after he died. Did that really happen? Could I really do that?

I assured him it does happen sometimes.

He nodded his head. I waited.

I\’ve decided. I want a reading , he said.

I had assumed he was just asking questions in general about fizzics . After all, it is a curiously strange and often misunderstood subject, isn\’t it?

I did not know I was being interviewed prior to a consultation!

My clients are always over the age of eighteen,but kids and dogs: they steal the stage every time.

I asked Ryan to introduce me his parents.

He took my hand and we hurried to a blue van nearby where his parents were unloading equipment from the back.

His Dad, who was a paraplegic, was preparing to perform in a dance ensemble.

Sounds strange, I know! But the performance was really unusual.

Surrounded by music, the wheelchairs seem to disappear. It is as if they are dancing, perhaps feeling the memory of physical freedom.

His parents gave their consent and Dad said he might join us later.

By the time Ryan and I returned to my booth there was a line forming.

My freckle faced nine-year old client was drawing a crowd.

Ryan didn\’t have any money with him and I would not have charged him anyway, but people began to come forward with money for the jar.

They said This is for a good cause\”, meaning Katrina donations.

But I suspect they also may have wanted to see what might happen with this odd couple: The Fissick and the Red Headed Kid.

Being kind of a Gladys Kravitz (nosy, hilarious neighbor character from the Bewitiched TV series) type myself – I understood the interest.

I opened Ryan\’s session with a simple short prayer.

He respectfully bowed his head, hands in prayer position and eyes squeezed shut tightly.

When he looked up,I asked What is on your mind today?

His story went like this:

He had a pet hamster, the first pet he was solely responsible in caring for. He was to feed, clean and play with his hamster, Lola.

He told me he had a habit of leaving Lola\’s door unlocked even though his parents had warned him about it. He added he also forgot to feed her or change her water sometimes and so his mother had to do it when he forgot.

One day the family cat opened the unlocked hamster door – and killed Lola.

I imagine he cried plenty of tears at home when it happened. Yet the questions, the burden and the feelings of loss remained.

Even after Lola\’s backyard family funeral service, Ryan said he had bad dreams about it.

I noticed the crowd around us had increased. Ryan\’s was unaware of the crowd, yet his undeniable innocence was completely magnetic.

Handkerchiefs came out of purses to wipe eyes and noses were blown.

More and more money went into the collection jar as people passed by or stayed to watch.

They gave for the cause but also because of what they were witnessing: the universal human experience of losing something that was loved.

Ryan wrapped up his story by saying his chances were not very good for getting another hamster or any other pet. Mom wasn\’t buying his promise to do better.

Oh, the agony of nine year old guilt!

He missed Lola and wondered if she might be like the German Shepherd dog he read about on my bio page. Death had become real to him.

I explained that when animals die the body stops working.

Then the inside part that you cannot see but is very real leaves the body behind. Lola had left her body and was in a very good place.

I said this is like going home or being born.

I explained that Lola was not sad, scared or in pain. Especially – she was not mad at him about what happened.

All Lola remembers is how much fun she had with Ryan, especially when he put her under the covers in his bed.

Ryan\’s eyes opened wide with wonder as he sat straight up in his chair.

How did you know that?! I never told anyone about that!

Lola told me , I replied. Which was true. She did.

This resulted in an eruption of delighted and completely uninhibited giggles of happiness, like beautiful music all around us.

In that moment, he gained a basic understanding of the cycle of life, death and then life again in a different way.

Ryan was … transformed.

We spoke a bit more, and in closing, I asked Ryan stand up. I went down to his eye level and held his hands.

I told him I could see a wonderful and amazing life ahead of him.

He grinned. A big toothy little boy grin, like Opie of Mayberry RFD.

I asked him if he played basketball. (I saw a scholarship in his future.)

He said I do, I like it, but I\’m not really that good at it.

I suggested that might change especially with practice. By the time he is ready for college, he might be a really good player and part of a team.

His giggles burst forth again like music as he raised up on his toes in delight over the thought of a real live fizzick telling him such a great thing.

Though I doubt anyone else saw it, in that moment we were enclosed by a blinding stream of white light.

To this day, though I\’ve encountered that light many times, I am unsure how to describe it.

Perhaps we were wrapped up in angel wings .

We said goodbye and he disappeared into the crowd.

Later, Michael and I moved to the mountains of New Mexico where I still offer my services.

My nine year-old client would be about eighteen years old now.

This is the first time I\’ve shared the story, though I think of it often.

The sharing of an innocent boy\’s personal loss, along with the losses of so many people in New Orleans that summer, unfolded a beautiful magic that moved people\’s hearts to give freely.

Personally I feel my consult with Ryan adds substance to my soul\’s \’resume\’.

When I look back on the summer of 2005, I do not think of the awful statistics related to the damage of Katrina, fund raising event, or the fact that I raised more money than any other volunteer on that day.

For me the summer of 2005 will always be about a certain wonderful red-headed boy, and a hamster named Lola.

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