In Celebration of the Lives of
Jason & Andrew Colvard

I wanted to share a story with you…

In October we returned ‘home’ to California where I was born and raised and where my son and grandson, Jason and Andrew, were also born, each of us in the same country hospital in rural Sonoma County. We felt a deep need and longing to gather with our family for a small memorial service to honor our ‘boys’. We had waited until we felt it was ‘safe enough’ to travel with my elderly Mother, and when there was a small window when the virus was less rampant, we flew. We gathered at my Mother’s old family farm on a warm October day to sing praises of Jason and Andrew, share stories, and take comfort with each other. My family had purchased two beautiful Ginkgoes’ that we planted side by side in the field next to my Mom’s home. There they will grow for centuries as Ginkgoes are known to do, growing from the ashes we planted in the soil and holding the memories of Jason and Andrew in their strong limbs and beautiful leaves.

The next morning, we carried their ashes, their stardust, to the old family burial plot in the Sonoma Mountain Cemetery where my Grandparents are buried. I’ve long loved this sacred space, where souls have been put to rest under the old oak forest that grows wild in the volcanic landscape. As we knelt in prayer over Jason and Andrew’s Memorial Stone, my brother placed an olive branch on the headstone. Wondering where the olive branch came from in this old oak forest, my brother pointed above; directly above us was one lone old and gnarled olive tree, a symbol of peace and renewal, growing amidst the oak forest.
That afternoon, returning home, we went out to circle the Ginkgo trees and to sing one final parting song before we all left for our homes again. As we began to sing,
“Fly like an Eagle,
Flying so high,
Circling the Universe
On wings of pure light”
Right above us, two beautiful white shoulder Hawks appeared and began to circle above and around us… singing with us in their high-pitched tones. They circled and sang above us the entire time we were singing, and as we finished the last verse, these two beautiful hawks flew off…. into the star world and the world of spirit beings.

With love and light,

Rosemary