Kc Rossi 0:00
Do you feel that people are in your life for a reason that you've crossed paths to teach one another things along the way? I do. My friend Gail was no exception. And she passed over last week. I wanted to share lessons for my dear friend as she was such a bright light. I won't go into every detail of my 32 years of friendship with Gail, but I do want to share the highlights. My hope is the learning lessons will be inspiring for you.
Kc Rossi 0:31
Are you ready to scale your business in a way that's aligned with your soul, and profitable? I'm KC Rossi, a business and leadership coach. I've been a full time entrepreneur for 30 years and love business. I help conscious leaders increase their impact and optimize their lives. Join me each week for tips and deep conversations on cultivating confidence, increasing your visibility, elevating your vibration, and leading with purpose without burning out. Let's go.
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LESSON ONE: Honor and respect each soul that crosses your path
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I met Gail when I was 18. We were both selling knives for Cutco Cutlery. One day during a meeting, each of us had to introduce ourselves to the sales team and share one thing about ourselves. Coincidentally, both Gail and I shared that we were vegetarian. So we struck up a conversation after that meeting. And she told me she was vegetarian for spiritual reasons, and pulled out a photo of her guru. I had never heard of such a thing before and was a little taken aback. Again, I was 18. And after that, she had baked me a batch of cookies that were literally the best thing I had ever tasted. Shortly after we both left the company and never saw one another. months later, I had seen a photo of an Indian gentleman on a phone pole in my local area, and it had an advertisement for a meditation and music. His eyes sparkled with life. And inside I knew that he had something that I didn't. And so I decided to go. That was a turning point in my life. And after that evening, I had remember Gail from so many months earlier, and even though I had never called her before I knew I needed to speak to her. I knew that from her devotion months back of sharing the impact of her spiritual teacher, that she might be able to shed light on what I had just experienced. I somehow luckily found her number and I left a message on her voice machine. So that evening, I drove to another location to take in an additional discourse of this wise teacher. And it was in a private home and lo and behold, in the back of the room was Gail. I ran up to her and I said did you get my message? And she just looked at me like I had three heads. She had no idea what I was talking about, because she was traveling all day, and I hadn't seen her in months. I believe that we parted February of 90 after Cutco. And this was now mid September, so many months later. And much to our surprise, the guru she's so lovingly and proudly shared with me almost a year earlier, was destined to be mine as well. From that day forward, we have been soul sisters. In fact, those delicious cookie she had baked had prashad in them which is Sanskrit for food that has been blessed. So it's an offering from the guru. So that little bugger had dropped a seed that brought me to the spiritual path. And I've been practicing on that path since 1990.
Kc Rossi 4:01
LESSON TWO: Embrace all of who you are unwaveringly
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Gail was a queen. She had all the characteristics of royalty. She was always put together from head to toe and perfectly coordinated outfits, manicured nails and mouth dropping gemstones. She knew who she was. She had standards and held true to them. She was probably the most sincere person I've met, never wavering on her values, never blowing smoke or posturing. She was who she was direct and honest, not by foresight, but by design. She would never pump gas herself or think of starting her day without her jewelry and dusting of lavender powder. I admired her consistent nature throughout the years and thought how cool it was to be so sure of yourself unwaveringly.
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LESSON THREE: Celebrate often and generously
Kc Rossi 5:04
Gail loved the holidays. They were her favorite time of the year. Each season she would have numerous totes filled with tons of decorations. Her Halloween parties were the most notable she would spend weeks preparing for them is it was quite an event that everyone talked about. The front yard will be filled with spooks, and tombstones with witty quips on them, coffins and lights and musical goblins. The neighborhood couldn't wait to see the new installments to the scene each year. And the food the food was over the top. Each item was expertly crafted from the spider cookies with the licorice whips for legs to the carved out pumpkins with custard filling and gingersnaps you never knew what was going to jump out and delightfully frighten you. Like the bloody hand rising out of the punchbowl. Gail was always so thoughtful, she would make sure that everyone was taken care of as far as their dietary restrictions, she would put on a full spread of veg and non veg. And in line with her fun sense of humor., she would always put monster stickers on all the non veg plates. I love that.
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At Easter, she would dress up as the Easter Bunny with the ears and the whisker nose. It was quite a sight as she was six feet tall. She would hop hop hop her way to each of her guests with an Easter basket filled with all of their favorite things. Her dining table was sat with so much class, I mean things I had never even seen before. The finest China goblets, candlesticks, bone dishes knife ress the whole shebang. I never saw anything like it before or since.
Kc Rossi 6:48
At Christmas, she had the biggest most majestic tree with swirling lights on inspiring blown glass ornaments and a present under the tree for all. She would even wrap a couple of extra presents in case a neighbor would visit. She insisted everyone have a place to celebrate the holidays. Even wayward soul she just met and everyone was to have something to open on Christmas. Her Goddaugter, Tonya, has continued the tradition. Even in times when money is tight, she makes sure to have a thought gift for her tribe and Gail's honor.
Kc Rossi 7:22
Everything was over the top. It's what made Gail the happiest to surprise and delight the people she loved.
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LESSON FOUR: Support what you love with devotion
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When Gail likes something, she loved it and would become the biggest brand advocate that you'd ever seen and this was way before being an influencer was trendy. She was my biggest fan when I owned my aromatherapy company Heart Blossom Essentials and use my Hit the Road Jack pain and inflammation balm religiously for over a decade. She would take it to every doctor's appointment and talk it up whenever she had the chance. She was always supporting local crafters whether it was a handmade bee balm or a peanut brittle. That was just who she was. And when I say that. What's coming to mind now is that one of her core traits was devotion. She was devoted to her spiritual path devoted to her husband Bill, devoted to her friend circle and devoted to the products she loved.
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LESSON 5: Unapologetically carve your own lane.
Kc Rossi 8:35
Gail did things her own way. She was not a fan of "shoulds," establishments, rules, authority figures, and the like. She dropped out of high school at 13 and carved her own lane. One thing with this life perspective is that she prioritized people, always. She didn't do things the way everyone else did...and that was a good thing. She was selfless. Everyone knew they could rely on Gail for a meal or a compassionate ear or whatever they needed. She once sold her antique fainting sofa to buy my best friend (and her little buddy), Sher, airline tickets when Sher's mom had had a stroke, and we were living out of town. When you needed her, she was there. One time when we were traveling in Mexico and swimming all day, Sher I had got tired, and it was Gail that pulled us to shore safely. This was the first time I experienced how strong she was.
Unknown Speaker 9:34
I'm going to wrap it here because otherwise I fear that this episode could go on for hours.
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To recap the lessons:
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Lesson 1, honor and respect each soul who crosses your path.
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Lesson 2: Unwaveringly embrace all of who you are.
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Lesson 3, celebrate often and generously.
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Lesson 4: Support what you love with devotion.
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Less 5: Unapologetically carve out your own lane.
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Because Gail loved the water — In fact, she would joke that she must have been a pirate in the past life, I will leave you with this poem written by Luther Beaker. And this was written in the 1800s or early 1900s. And it's called The Sailing Ship.
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"What is dying?
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I am standing on the seashore.
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A ship sails to the morning breeze and starts for the ocean.
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She is an object and I stand watching her to look last she fades from the horizon.
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And someone at my side says, "She has gone."
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Gone where?
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Gone from my sight. That is all. She is just as large in the mass, hull and spars as she was when I saw her and just as able to bear her load of living freight to its destination.
Kc Rossi 11:10
The diminished size and total loss of sight is in me, not in her.
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And just at that moment when someone at my side says "She is gone."
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There are others who are watching her coming.
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And other voices take up a GLAD shout - "There she comes."
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Thank you for listening, my friend. Until next week, Breathe Joy.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
