Moved on a whim. Met Linda

In 1997 I made a life changing decision. I moved 3000+ miles away from my home state of SC and drove, by myself, to Washington State. All on a whim.

Within two weeks, I had sold all of my belongings, packed my books, clothes and computer in the car and stayed one last night in a hotel overlooking the beach.

I began the drive filled with equal amounts of excitement and trepidation. The fear was only masked by the child like wonder of a new adventure.

There were some disappointments along the way that made me reconsider my rash decision, but in the end, the adventure of it all won out and I pushed on until I reached my destination…well, sort of.

The plan was to house sit for a lady who traveled several months out of the year to warmer weather. She lived in Shelton, WA in a house that sat on the water, next to a local state park. It sounded perfect!

There were some apparent miscommunications, and I will admit, my failed patience in waiting to see if the plans were firm. In the end, while still on the road, I was contacted via an email notifying me that the house had been sold instead. So now what?

My internet friends had been following me on my cross country trek via chat rooms and emails. I would haul my huge monitor, computer tower and all the hardware into each hotel I stayed at. I would hook it all up and report to my friends. Back then, laptops were not as popular or affordable. Wi-Fi was a dream, not yet manifested.

I contacted my friends to tell them the abode that I had traveled all the way across the county for was not available. They were concerned. I was devastated.

In all honesty, I did not plan this well. As is my habit when I get excited about a new opportunity, I may have jumped the gun. OK, yeah, I jumped the gun. Plans were not finalized when I left.

When I received the email that told me to turn around, that the house was not available, I was already in Colorado. After a night of crying, confusion, and fear, I made the decision to to just keep going. I would not go home. I would not give anyone the chance to tell me I had failed. No “I told you so’s.”

Onward and upward! Into the abyss.

When I finally crossed the state line into Washington State, it was March 1997. I made it! The excitement was short lived. Now what? I had nowhere to go. An online friend recommended I pay a visit to a lady in Shelton, WA named Linda, who had a book store. Apparently, she had a lot of good contacts and could point me in a direction towards a possible temporary place to stay.

The house I was to house sit was in Shelton! Is this a sign?

After some driving around the small town of Shelton and finding NO bookstores, I enlisted the help of the local Chamber of Commerce and a phone book. The “book store” was actually listed in the yellow pages as Cove Carpets and Crystals. We found Linda’s name under that listing and I gave her a call. She told me to come on out and provided directions.

This “book store” turned out to be a barn like structure in the middle of nowhere. It had the words “THIS IS IT!!” painted in huge letters on the side. I smiled nervously, opened the door and walked inside.

I think the description would be more accurate by saying that I fell down the rabbit hole.

Sitting on the couch in front of a very hot wood stove was a young woman. Very exotic looking, dark eyes and hair, dressed in dark clothing with a cat sleeping in her lap. After saying hello, she said, “Patches was a lion in his former life.” She continued to stroke the cat, not missing a beat.

Now, it must be shared here that I am from S.C. I was reared with southern values and being polite was ingrained into me from childhood. I was raised in the Bible belt, a southern Baptist at birth, home of the screaming evangelist who would slap you on the forehead with their palm and scream, “BE HEALED!!”

Understand that I had never been around anyone who felt a cat was more than just a cat before. I cannot even imagine the look that must have been on my face. So, I did what anyone who was southern born and raised would do – I smiled, nodded and politely asked for Linda.

Linda did not own a book store. It was a hidden treasure of a shop with every crystal imaginable. There was incense and jewelry and a few books along with trays of tumbles and assorted what not. I had no idea what this stuff was, so I just smiled and shared what would become known as, “My Story”. (I cannot tell you how often, over the course of the next decade, I would be asked to tell “My Story”.

They would always exclaim how amazing and brave I was. I would always counter with, “No, not brave, just impulsive and kind of stupid.”

Upon hearing my tales of travel and woe, Linda took me around the shop and started putting tumbled stones and crystals in my hand. “You must have moonstone since you are a Cancer and here is black tourmaline to keep you safe from any drama and……”

So, here I stood.

With a handful of rocks.

I was trying to figure out how these rocks were supposed to help me find a place to stay, when all of a sudden, two people appear. One was a psychic medium from Canada; the other was his female companion. Apparently Linda knew them both. She excitedly exclaimed, “Tell them your story!”

Yeah, the story thing again!

And so, obediently and politely, I went through the entire story as requested. How I left SC to come house sit but half way across the country the lady tells me to turn around and go back that the house was being sold instead. How I soldiered on with nothing more than a hard headed, no quit, failure is not an option attitude. Now here I was with no money and no place to stay.

The man stepped up to me and said something about a sinus infection. Interestingly enough, I HAD actually picked one up when I went through Colorado, with the higher altitude and all.

As I stood there talking, he put his hand on my forehead and closed his eyes. Both Linda and the female companion were smiling as if they shared a secret. I was freaking out on the inside (remember, BE HEALED!!) but I politely stood still and closed my eyes too. It is what we southerners do, you see.

I really wanted to crack up. I had never in my lifetime been faced with this kind of situation or these kinds of people! Once he was done with his “healing” he looked me dead in the eye and said, “Stop trying to control things and make them work. They have their own way. Just go with the flow.”

I have always had control issues. I need to have a plan and a backup plan, unless of course I am being impulsive. And here is this man, telling me, to stop? (SIDE NOTE: 29 years later and I have still NOT learned this lesson).

We had a conversation for a while. No one knew of a place that I could stay, so I thanked them all, said goodbye to the dark haired lady with the lion cat and got in my car to leave.

I laughed out loud, literally, all the way back to the motel I was staying in. I truly felt I had just experience my personal Twilight Zone.

Little did I know what I was in for.

Kristi 2016

NOTES:

• Linda became my mentor. She was the first to teach me about crystals. I went on to work at her shop, Cove Crystals, for many years. I even lived there a couple of times during some life transitions. I loved Linda dearly. She was like a mother to me. She passed in May of 2020 or 2021. I do not remember now that I think on it. I still miss her.
• The house I was to babysit. The one that fell through. Another chapter there. I was visiting a friend at a local park. It had trees and was on the water. Really nice. I was telling her about the time, many years ago, when I came to WA to babysit a house. I told her the owner’s name. I only knew that it was by a park on the water. She looked at me. Smiled and said, “Come with me.” She led me outside, pointed me to the right and said, “Do you see that house? The yellow one? THAT is the house you are talking about. I remember the owner well. She decided to sell the house and move to AZ to live full time.” We both just looked at each other for a minute. Finally, what brought me to WA State was revealed. The chapter was closed.