The Rose of Hina

Time is irrelevant where love resides.

I've known my dear friend Hina since only September of last year, yet I cannot imagine my life without her beautiful impact upon it. It felt as though familiar souls had been reunited when meeting and enjoying our first walk together. In these short months, we've exchanged stories, shared laughter, danced, and shed tears together. I sat beside her as she journeyed through the waves of emotion that cancer brings forth, and watched her rise beyond fear... admirably choosing to set her sights on love and hope instead.

To know Hina was to journey through a rose garden. From a certain vibrant presence, to her beauty inside and out, spending time with her brought joy. She was kind and warm-hearted while holding a depth that enabled her to expand spiritually, layers of wisdom and understanding blossoming like petals.

"Believe in your power, build upon it, and keep healing and inspiring all around you."

she'd written in her article entitled Hina's Healing for the first issue of Heal & Rise Magazine, excited to contribute her lessons learned.

We shared of our mutual dream to one day open a healing sanctuary. Even as she underwent her own treatment we would discuss her ideas of helping others, using her own healing and growth to inspire and uplift those along their own journeys. Hina reminded me to believe in and take care of myself, encouraging me as I held space for her and living out her faith with divine purpose. She blended her spiritual awareness and creativity with a strong feminine grace that will forever be brought back to me by the presence of a rose.

Visiting her in the last moments before her body retired, the tears couldn't help but to release. Of all diagnoses, cancer can feel to be so incredibly cruel. A mother of two young boys, my heart ached as her dear sister shared with me a construction paper book tied with ribbon that her son had made. Yet I felt her spirit share, "Don't cry for me! I'm dancing!" Her loving family welcomed me with warmth and open arms, demonstrating grace and gratitude. Even in such sadness and loss, they repeated, "We're so grateful, so grateful to God for the time we've had with her."

Hina and I had often noticed the cardinals in our yards, mentioning these sightings to one another. Taking them as spiritual signs, they appear to remind us of the divine support that surrounds us. We shared of the loved ones who'd crossed over before us of whom we felt the angelic presence. As I left the hospital room, walking down the hall and around the corner, I smiled to see a framed picture of cardinals on the wall before me. Though I could feel the end was near, I mentally asked her to show me a sign of her spirit breaking free from the body that could no longer contain her. Returning home, I was trying my best not to dwell in sadness and choose joy instead. Not long after doing so a familiar singing caught my attention, loud and clear. I looked out the window with tears of gratitude welling in my eyes to find this vibrant sign of reassurance peaking through the branches full of new life.

Some moments seem to last for a lifetime, experiences etched in our memories forever. In other ways it can seem that entire years fly by in a blink of an eye. A moment of kindness shared can change the course of our path, and there never seems to be enough time with those we love.Though I had merely months in friendship and soul sisterhood with Hina, I'll forever be grateful for her profound impact on my life.

Time is irrelevant where love resides.