I had an interesting, and rather unsettling, encounter with a young lady named Emily while on vacation in Mexico.  My wife and I had taken a trip to Cabo San Lucas with some of our daughter’s in-laws and family friends. Altogether, we made up a party of 32 people ranging in age from about 25 to about 65 years old.  A mid-winter trip to Cabo had become a bit of a family tradition for my daughter’s in-laws.  They stay in an “all inclusive” hotel for a week.  That pretty much means that there is plenty of food and drink all day long, except when napping.  Even the pool had a swim-up bar so you didn’t have to do more than drift over to that end of the pool to get another drink.  Luckily the drinks were very `weak.

I didn’t expect to enjoy the time there because this sort of vacation doesn’t seem very interesting, but it was actually quite pleasant.  I mainly sat in the shade and read.  We didn’t do much talking with the rest of the folks in the party because they sat in the full sun while (being blonds with very light skin) my wife and I found shady places – thus we spent most of the day in separate locations from the main party.

The hotel had various activities during the evening and into the night.  Generally, we all went our own directions at night – the “kids” went off partying and we “adults” went to our rooms.  On several evenings I would sit by an outdoor fire circle for a couple of hours and talk to other hotel guests.

One of the evenings was karaoke night.  I have never sung karaoke, but I decided to go watch for awhile.  Most of the rest of our party was there, hooting, hollering, and singing their hearts out.  Our group was made up of a bunch of cowboys (actual, honest to goodness cowboys with the boots, hats and big belt buckles as proof) and farmers.  The cowboys got right into the spirit of the event.  They rather dominated the evening, singing solo and in groups – not particularly well, but with a lot of enthusiasm.

Things were rapidly going down hill as the evening wore on until a lovely stranger stepped up to the microphone.  I was pleasantly surprised at her appearance – young, tall, and beautiful.  Then she started to sing and I was blown away!  Her voice was even prettier than she was.  It was an amazing change from the cowboys we had been listening to; she sang loud, beautiful and crystal clear. 

That was an interesting interlude, but soon the guys were back at it again.  I decided that since I was with the group I should play along with them rather than just being a wallflower observer.  I started looking through the list of songs hoping to find something that I might know.  I like music, but seldom pay attention to who is playing or the names of the songs – so it was a bit of a challenge for me to find something that I might be able to sing all the way through.  I decided that I might know some old Beatles songs, so was looking through them when one of the ladies in our group suggested “All You Need Is Love.” The idea was that it is simple and others would join in.  So, I chose that for my introduction to the karaoke game. 

It started off easy enough.  I at least knew the introductory chorus, but it quickly degenerated once I got past the few words that I knew.  All of a sudden I found myself madly trying to read the words on the screen, but getting further and further behind.  Then it dawned on me that there was an abrupt change in vocal range coming up. I remembered that there is an octave or so jump that has to be made.  Well, that was a real problem because I don’t have much of a vocal range.  I have a really deep voice that just kind of hangs around there at the bottom of whatever other people are singing.  I guess you might call it a bass, and a low one at that.  I was already singing an octave above my normal range, so the idea of going even higher was a bit stressful to say the least.  As I was singing along worrying about this shift, it felt a bit like being pushed into a box canyon where I had no way out but would have to jump to the top of the cliff.  I began to feel panic rising in me.

When the time finally came for that shift, a rather odd thing happened – I just jumped for it and went into a falsetto that I had never experienced.  I just gave it all and bang, there I was singing another octave (or maybe two!) above where I had been.  The really weird thing is that I think I might have even been on the correct notes and in key.  Who would have expected such a thing?  Then I noticed that pretty girl, who was sitting next to the stage – watching me.  When I made that jump, her face totally lit up, she broke into the most amazing, and approving, smile that I can recall ever seeing.  She liked it!?  Of course, once I saw her smile I completely forgot where I was in the song and ended up just kind of dribbling out the end.  I don’t even know if I finished the song – probably not.

I just kind of shuffled back to my seat, relieved that I had been a “good sport” and wouldn’t have to repeat the attempt.  Soon the karaoke portion of the night came to an end, and it turned into a dance party.  I was there by myself and really didn’t much feel like dancing, but decided to stick around and watch for awhile.  However, my plans were interrupted when that girl came up and asked me to dance.  I did, but felt pretty self conscious because she was so pretty and I felt out of place and married.  I finally agreed. However, when we stopped dancing she stuck around with me, and we chatted about nothing special – that was when I found out that her name was Emily. 

I then started noticing an interesting activity in the night club.  Several men had also noticed Emily and were making their moves.  They came and got her to dance, but she always came right back to me.  They came and tried all sort of approaches – which I had never seen before, but she was probably totally familiar with.  However, it soon became clear to me that they could do whatever they wanted, but she was with me for the evening.  At one point one of the guys even tried to get me into a fight with him to prove his prowess.  One guy came and talked religious talk, another talked about how much money he had.  Others talked about athletic things.  All were useless; Emily was with me for the night – and I knew it. 

I tried to make sure I mixed in with the rest of our group, not wanting to make it too obvious that I had a beautiful girl being nice to me.  Whenever she went to dance with someone, I would go talk to a friend or mingle – but she always came back and pulled me back out of the crowd.

It was kind of an amazing thing.  I have heard about meeting a soul mate from a past life, and never much paid any attention to it.  However, Emily was like that.  It just felt like she was a good friend from somewhere in the distant past.  We picked up our conversation at a point that felt like it had been going on forever.  There was no feeling of lust (well, not a lot of that at any rate), more of a feeling of great friendship.  When she went to dance with another, or she went off and talked to some other guys, it was obvious that she would be back and that there was no reason to worry about it, or fret. 

Finally it was closing time, and we were standing in the hall with a group of my party.  I realized at that moment that it was over, there was no way that I could continue that into the night – and really didn’t have a need or desire to do so.  She offered to go get some beer she had in her room and continue with the party (which she did with some of the guys) – but I knew that was the end of it for me. I just walked off through the dark and quiet halls to the elevator to return to my room and my wife.    

That was the end of the story, she was gone – but I still have the very strong and rather odd feeling that she is gone “once again.”  I heard that she was up until 5:00 am partying with the boys, still singing as the sun was coming up.  The next day was the day to travel home, so there was no more chance to see her or talk to her any more.  Then, as I was leaving, she was standing next to the pool in her bikini – as pretty as she was the night before.  I went up to her to say goodbye and thank her for the evening.  She just kind of looked blankly at me for a moment, then broke into the same smile as the night before and threw her arms around me in a hug to say goodbye.  She had just put on suntan lotion, so my shirt stuck to her belly – we were momentarily “glued” together.  Then I turned and left for the trip back home.

It has been a couple of years since that night, but there is still a lingering feeling.  There is still a feeling of loss, of having made an important connection of the soul, but it just pulled apart once again.  Maybe we will meet again in yet another life, maybe not.  In any case, she brought an energy and connection that I am not likely to forget. 

I think the most important part of this event to me was a reminder that there is more to being with people than just being with them.  I had been noticing that my connections with people – friends, loved ones, strangers, those I don’t much like – had become somehow “flat” emotionally.  I enjoyed them, and liked to be around them, but there was not much “energy” involved.  For a few years I had been wondering if this was because I had moved further into my Buddhist and Toltec practices so that strong emotions had become dampened, or if it is just a natural thing that comes from growing older.  I wondered if maybe I had somehow become too self-centered to respond to people with strong emotions – love, compassion, interest, hate, disgust and all the rest.  It has been pleasant enough to be a little disconnected from others, but a little lonely too. 

Emily somehow shook me awake again.  I feel like she kind of slapped me around, reminding me to pay attention to energy and emotions, to fully engage in life rather than sit on the sidelines and watch.  Not that I really did that, I usually get engaged in life – but it had become muted.  That night my connection with Emily was certainly not muted!  I was all of a sudden wide awake again.  I am a little melancholy that she was just a vision passing in the night, but am grateful for the experience and reminder. A couple of weeks after this encounter I was driving to town early in the pre-dawn morning when I realized that Emily wasn’t really a stranger to me, it seemed like she was the angel that I had encountered years earlier in an automobile accident (see “Angel Lady”).  As soon as that thought came to mind, the hairs all over my body stood on end – and tears welled up in my eyes.  It seemed that I had recognized the connection, that whoever this lady is – she has been there to help me before.