Angel House – Strongsville, OH
This is written from Rochester, NY on 4/25.
4/22
Earth Day at Angel House
For the past few weeks I’ve been going stir crazy waiting on my book deal to happen. Waiting on something you basically have no control over is very tough. A few weeks ago I spoke with Carol Dombrose, the owner of the Angel House in Strongsville, OH. She had mailed me a DVD of the ABC news story they did when I was there in September of 2006. We caught up and she asked me to come back to Angel House for their open house, which was on Earth Day. There was going to be a lot of artists, musicians, and authors on display. I told her I’d see how my schedule looked.
As Earth Day approached, I looked at the weather forecast for Ohio. The weekend looked great. I called Carol on Thursday. Way overdue for a road trip, I told her I’d be there. I was excited to get to see her and Chris, who I had met when I was there before, again. The grounds of Angel House would also be a welcome place to clear my mind for what was next on my journey.
I arrived just before the festivities were to begin at 1 PM. As I decompressed from the 4 ½ hour car ride, I saw Carol in the distance moving quickly as one does when getting prepped for a big event. I walked toward the house and saw a familiar face. Larry greeted me. He had been at my Rotary talk. I remembered him as a real estate guy with a powerful story of how he got there. Walking onto the grounds, toward the sweat lodges and the small stream, I saw a familiar silhouette. Chris was planting flowers down by the water. He was bent over working but eventually heard the rustle of leaves under my feet.
He beamed at my sight, jumping over the water to where I was and gave me a big bear hug. Angel House is wonderful. I was here once for a few days but the people I met are filled with peace and love. I found myself hugging people throughout the weekend.
After catching up with Chris, I made my way to where I last saw Carol. She was still running around but stopped to give me a big smile and big hug. As a frequent host of parties, I know how stressful it is. I went into immediate help mode, getting things from Angel House to put out.
Once 1 PM hit, I took focus on the celebration. The sun was shining on the bright green grass of the yard just to the right of the huge red barn. There were rows of plastic chairs set up in front of a big tent. Flanking the chairs on the left was some food and tables with various artists showcasing their books, CD’s, or businesses. On the right of the chairs was an author of a book called Halo Repair as well as a seven year old girl who had written books to raise money for cancer research. She had lost her brother.
I sat down. The sun had not been shining much in Rochester and the rays felt great on my head and shoulders. Nine young people, I guessed middle school age, made up the orchestra under the tent. They had different string instruments and went into various songs, led by their teacher, who works out of a room in the Angel House barn. She said to the growing crowd that the group would be playing many of these songs at her wedding in a few weeks. I loved being outside listening to a nine piece ensemble.
The sun became too hot for me and I moved to shade. I also migrated around to the different tables. Earth Day at Angel House moved into the shade of the barn for a book reading and discussion from Michael, an English professor who has been given a unique gift: a messenger channels his voice through him. I will get into that later.
From there a professor at Ashland explained how she connected Michael and Chris as well as read some of her work. She also passed around a picture that was startling. It was of her at their first meeting, by herself, but with puffs of smoke floating in front of her. It was a non smoking place.
From there, a woman who painted the twelve steps of life explained her work as well why she has decided to start a commune of independent, organic food. Needless to say, there were many passionate and energized people.
I am not well versed in many of the things that were discussed, but I just sat and listened. I felt very comfortable and peaceful at Angel House. After Earth Day I was asked to join many of the presenters from the day at Chris and his wife Paula’s house for dinner. After cleaning up, I made a quick run up to the Ridge for a hello to the water below and the nature of the trails surrounding me.
Then Carol and I made the drive to their house. Most of the presenters were gathered around the kitchen table, eating burgers and discussing spirituality and many names of people I had never heard of. It was evident the names they mentioned were leaders in different fields. The tone was quite academic in nature and because I was not versed in the topics, I just listened to their knowledge and passion.
Come 8:00 Carol was worn out from the day. I was energized by the conversations, but it was time for the group to break up. Just before we got up Chris set up a meeting with Michael and his wife Jennifer for the next day in Canton. I was going to learn more about and maybe experience the messenger Michael wrote of.
He had given me a copy of his book and I spent the night reading, trying to prepare some questions to ask. I slept like a baby, enjoying the fact I was at Angel House. My book questions had susbided, I was in the now.