Dear Reader

Every year around this time ...

... I remember that nineteen years ago I was on a Buddhist pilgrimage with a group from California where I was living at the time. This trip had been planned by the group for years. I was a last minute addition when a place in the trip opened up unexpectedly. I didn't know why at the time, but I soon realised it was one of those events that in hindsight turned my life along a totally different path.

At the time I was looking for direction, for a purpose for my life. Surely in India I would find the spiritual direction to give my heart peace and my actions purpose.

But it wasn't until we were well into our journey and after meeting many enlightened folk and having many spiritual experiences that my answers came.

At this time we were in Ladakh, about 12,000 feet high in the Himalayas. The altitude felt very familiar and peaceful to me. Where some loved the majesty of the mountains, it was the expanse of the plains we saw on our drive from Manali to Leh that spoke to my soul. I imagined herding yak and riding horses there, being part of that community and breathing the fresh air - it sounded heavenly to me.

After a few days in Leh, we trekked up a steep path to the Hemis Monastery, about 45 kilometres southeast of Leh. Our mission was to spend the night in the Hemis cave and meditate.

There was something other-worldly about being with a group in a cave where it was assumed Jesus had meditated nearly 2,000 years ago. I wasn't then, and still am not, a great meditator. But I was happy to join in the peace and tranquility of the cave.

A visit from Jimmy

A couple of years before our visit to the Hemis cave, seven-month-old Jimmy, a grandbaby I hadn't been able to meet, died.

Although I hadn't met him, at his tangi (a traditional Maori funeral) I was able to sit beside him, holding his hand for hours. During this time I got to know him and feel his sweet spirit.

My companions warned me that many had spiritual experiences in this particular cave. In fact, that was why we were there. I wasn't expecting anything particularly enlightening for me.

However, as I meditated, Jimmy, older now, appeared beside me, tugging at my hand. "Come with me, Grandma, come with me!" he pleaded. He led me through a labyrinth of passageways until we were on a ledge overlooking a valley.

In the valley were thousands of people, heads down and I felt an enormous amount of sadness emanating from them.

Jimmy pointed at them and told me, "That's your job, Grandma, that's your job."

And then I was back in my spot in the cave wondering, agonising, over what did it mean - my job to change those wounded folk's stories to bring them joy?

You got it Grandma!

My heart filled with love, not in a quiet way, but like a bolt from the blue - and that's how I knew what my job was. "It's love," I told my friend. "I can do that." And then dear Jimmy was beside me again, dancing around shouting out in joy "You got it, Grandma! You got it!"

I didn't sleep in the cave that night. One of the group wasn't well and I volunteered to walk down the track with her and go back to our hotel in Lei.

A baby sign in the rock

We stopped on our walk a few times to catch our breath and take it easy. On one stop we both noticed what appeared to be a baby's footprint stamped in a rock on the side of the path.

To us both it was a reminder of our babies - her granddaughter and my Jimmy. That lifted our spirits, gave us the energy to keep going.

Good news - a baby is born

Back at the hotel, an email was waiting for me. A new baby had arrived and I realised that the footprint in the rock had multiple meanings - my friend's grandbaby, Jimmy, and now great grandson, baby Spencer.

Every year since then, on Spencer's birthday, I remember the cave, Jimmy's visit and the footprint in the rock. I am remindedI was challenged to do my job - to love. Spencer is a young man now and although Jimmy is long gone, Spencer's life is a witness that love abounds and is all that matters in life.

Every so often I check in with myself and that valley that represents, symbolically, everyone I come in contact with over the course of my day. I don't love perfectly, but I do believe in the far reaching positive effects acts of kindness and love can have on an impossible number of people.

That's my job: to make sure my next interaction comes with a loving intent. That I'm more successful than not fills me with peace..

With love, always,
Stephanie

Ages of Pages Book Fair - Hamilton, NZ May 1st 2027

I'm getting in early to invite you to the Ages of Pages Book Fair 2027! If things go haywire for me, at least you'll have this invite to refer to earlier to the time. I'll be there and so will my daughter Phoebe. Along with over 140 other authors and book vendors.

Once the website for 2027 is up I'll share the link here. In the meantime, I'm keeping this invite up on the newsletter.

Why I Write - for you and for me too.

Some stories come from lived experience, like navigating my son’s addiction and the long road of recovery. Others are shaped by imagination, like the cozy mystery I’m writing, set in a small café where trust is both tested and rebuilt. Some of my life stories still bring tears. Others make me smile. And many are filled with memories that warm my heart.

I write for anyone who’s ever carried a burden across generations, and for anyone who longs to heal forward.

I write to bring a little encouragement, comfort and joy into my life and yours.

With love,
Stephanie

My thoughts for Living Life in 2026 and beyond:

"My religion is kindness"

Dalai Lama

“Cast your bread upon the waters and it will
come back - buttered”

Doris May Payne - my mother

"Life is a Daring Adventure or Nothing"

Helen Keller

“Write it on my heart that every day is
the best day of the year”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Remember that sometimes not getting
what you want is a wonderful stroke of luck"
​​
Dalai Lama

“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave [person] is not [the one] who does not feel afraid, but [the one] who conquers that fear.”

Nelson Mandela

Read past Newsletters and, if you enjoy them,
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www.StephanieHammondAuthor.com