For all of us that have lost close loved ones, we see things on a regular basis that reminds us of those loved ones. There are symbols that remind us of the love we shared with that person that we see on a regular basis.

I completed an exercise focused on this concept that I would like to share with all of you:

The motorcycle symbolizes my son’s love of all things motorized.

When I hear the roar of a Harley tearing down the road, it reminds me of my son. He was a big guy and when he hopped on his bike, he looked like such a rebel but yet as you pulled up beside him, that enormous smile on his face just lit up the world. You could never be scared of anyone with that large of a smile.

When I hear the roar of a Harley, it brings back memories of trying to take pictures of him on his bike. He was always giving that big old Canadian hello in all the pictures. The big old Canadian hello was him giving the bird. When we were down south, we had our friends’ kids believing that was how Canadians said hello.

When I hear the roar of a Harley, it reminds me that Devin is right here with me every day encouraging me to live life to the fullest. It is his way of saying “hello mommy” and just reminding me he is right here by my side.

When I hear the roar of a Harley, it reminds me of the burnout noise the bike makes when I am doing a burnout in his memory. It reminds me of the smoke signals I am sending up to heaven so that Devin knows I love and miss him and want to honour the amazing man he is.

When I hear the roar of a Harley, I can look up to the sky and picture Devin’s face in the clouds with that big old smile of his telling me how much he loves me.

When I hear the roar of a Harley, I see MY SON!!!!

This exercise was so powerful for me. I have chosen to write above exactly what I wrote. No editing. No adding and no changes, just in raw format. The above is what was on my paper when I was done.

To do this exercise, all you need to do is sit quietly, take a couple deep breaths, and think of your loved one. Sit quietly for a couple minutes and think of two to three symbols that remind you of a loved one.

Now open your eyes and start writing with pen and paper. Just let your hand write and don’t think of what to write, just let it flow. When you are done, go back and read what you actually put to paper, it will be amazing.