Brie

My friends and family were all well aware of the miracle that had occurred with Jonathan. Many of them were hanging on every word of his recovery, day by day. Some had even joined the calls. My sister-in-law, Amy, was one of them. She’d been moved by the circle we’d all created and, like everyone else, surprised/not surprised that what we’d done seemed to have contributed to Jonathan’s survival. So when the news arrived that her friend’s first grandchild had been born months too soon and weighed just over two pounds, Amy suggested we start a new circle. In early July of 2020, just as the daily calls for Jon were coming to an end, the Brie calls began.

Baby Brie had developed a dangerous condition in utero, and it became necessary to deliver her early. Soon after birth though, she developed a life-threatening gastrointestinal problem, which came with a discouraging mortality rate. There would be multiple corrective surgeries to follow.

As with Jon, I asked Grandma to be as specific as possible with what Brie needed. Grandma began communicating daily with Brie's parents. At first it was general: successful surgeries, stable recoveries, healthy intestines. I pressed further. What exactly is her condition? What is the medical terminology? What is the best outcome? By understanding what she was going through and what she needed to achieve perfect health, we created visualizations that helped draw perfect health toward her.

We see Brie pull in oxygen-rich air through her nose. We see the air travel down her trachea and branch out into each of her lungs. We see her lungs filter the oxygen and push it into her blood vessels. We see her heart pumping and moving the oxygen in her blood vessels to all the organs in her body. We see oxygen-rich blood circulating and nourishing her body. We see her blood return to her lungs where carbon dioxide is filtered out and pushed up through her trachea and back out through her nose. We breathe with her, inhaling oxygen, circling it through her body, and exhaling carbon dioxide. We breathe together, inhaling oxygen and exhaling carbon dioxide. Breathe in the new. Breathe out the old.

 We know that the lungs work in perfect partnership with the intestines. Brie breathes in life and releases waste. As her lungs open and flex and take in life, every breath heals her intestines. Every breath heals her intestines. Every breath heals her intestines.

 Early on, when we were doing the calls for Jon, his wife June had said that the precious half hour we were joining together were often the most peaceful moments of her day. It was the only time when she felt like she could truly let go of everything she was holding because we all were holding it for her. As Brie was surviving surgery after surgery, her parents began to feel how important our presence was becoming to them, too. Soon, Brie's mother began sending texts to Grandma before our calls.

As the weeks progressed, Brie was having trouble extracting nutrients from her food. We spent a lot of time visualizing the details of digestion and saw her gaining weight and strength. We buffered her immune system. We projected ourselves into the future and envisioned her healthy and thriving. After more than two months in the hospital, Brie was doing well enough to go home. By Christmas, she was a plucky 13 pounds. She began walking just after her first birthday. After her second birthday, her gastrointestinal problems had corrected themselves, which was about five years sooner than the medical team had expected. 

As of this writing, Brie is a strong, healthy three-year-old who is smart, funny, silly, creative, and very active. She swims, takes tap dance classes, and loves to dress up. She is also perhaps more compassionate than other children her age. She has an uncanny ability to read faces and genuinely wants to know what someone is feeling. Her only ongoing health complications lie with her immune system, which is expected to normalize by the time she is five.