You are so uplifting and inspiring Jean. May you always be surrounded by your angels. I’m thinking you are one actually 
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Jean died peacefully this morning, Friday, October 2, 2026. According to her son Ed: “She is getting her official angel 
wings 
today.”
Love you Jean,
Rick
Her son recommended this video:
Lyrics:
Run run river, carry me home to the ocean
The river and the road, take me home to the ocean
The friends in my life like stars in the sky, leave the lights on
I’m trying to get back home, the river keeps on flowing to the ocean
The angels above me they sing that they love me oh lord
I’m traveling alone
So far from home and love
Oh the angels, angels please don’t leave
I’m trying to get to her with the love she deserves lord please
I’ve been playing my guitar laying underneath the stars for you
In the light of the moon I’ll be forever singing tunes for you
When the stars are aligned like the colors in your eyes, greens and blues
It’s not when or whether, we’ll always be together, it’s true
And the angels above me they sing that they love me oh lord
I’m traveling alone
So far from home and love
Oh the angels, angels please don’t leave
I’m trying to get to her with the love she deserves lord please
And sometimes I feel like my heart’s gonna burst at the seams
And sometimes I think it’s just love that we want, or we need
And sometimes I feel like I’m living too much in my dreams
And sometimes, oh lord, let me be
Let me be oh
Are you feeling like I’m feeling?
Searching for the meaning of it all
I spend all my days trying to make some sense of it all
The ocean and the seas and the windblown trees are changing
And your love for me, is all I need to keep believing
And the angels above me they sing that they love me oh lord
I’m traveling alone
So far from home and love
Oh the angels, angels please don’t leave
I’m trying to get to her with the love she deserves lord please
Oh please
Don’t leave me
Don’t leave me
Credits:
Writers: Scott Woodruff & TJ O’Neill
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I’m going to miss you, Jean. I was hoping we’d get a chance to talk again. Thank you for all the support and love you gave to me, and for being such a generous, kind-hearted friend who made me laugh and helped me through grief.
Huggus: Jewel
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Cuddling up in a cozy blanket here to listen to Jean’s last song she posted, and the one her son sent. Sending you all hugs. I’m so sad she has left her body, and so grateful that she is with me and with us all still. I met Jean through Rick and this community - so grateful. She reached out to me and we became friends over the last 12(?) years. I remember listening to Rick and Jean do sessions together - such a great dynamic. And I had the gift of meeting Jean and Bernie in person a few years ago when I was road tripping through Asheville. Here is our selfie of a Jean sandwich. <3 I never got to tell her this, but she was one of my “favorites” on my phone - people I considered in my inner circle. I felt so seen and cared for and accepted by her. She used to send me angels before I did big talks and it really helped me with my fear. I will miss her dearly. I was in CA over the weekend when I learned of her passing, and had a chance to go to the beach and cry and remember how I always would send her videos of the beach when I went to one. She did my chart and my partner’s chart and she told me that my partner is my “cosmic reward” – her now favorite story to tell people. I’m Dru’s cosmic reward. And, I loved Jean’s sense of humor. I will treasure my text exchange. Sending you all hugs if you are reading this.
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And this song came to me as I grieve Jean. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqIACCH20JU
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Thank you, Dru, for posting and sharing about Jean. Sending you hugs too. I have been missing her so much and having a hard time accepting that she is “gone”. And yet I’ve also been feeling her right here with me in spirit - so close. So it’s a really odd mixture of grief & comfort - I don’t think I’ve ever experienced anything quite like this before.
I wrote the following under another topic - in the “Year of Self-Kindness” section / but I’d like to share it here too:
I’ve been very sad to hear of Jean’s passing and will miss her deeply. Jean and I met through Rick and Thriving Now - when I used to be on the calls alot years ago. And she offered me support personally - we used to tap and talk on the phone frequently. She was very generous in her giving and tapping with me regularly. We had many calls with both laughter and tears. She could be funny and kind of irreverent and blunt at times, and I appreciated that about her. Also very tender hearted and kind. After awhile our phone calls kind of faded out and we still chatted on Facebook alot and kept in touch there. More recently we hadn’t been chatting as often and she wrote and asked if things were okay between us and we both said yes, and were sorry for the challenges of life and health that made it harder to write as often. She told me not to feel guilty. I was really hoping we would get a chance to talk again before she passed. I see things that I think Jean might like and want to send them to her - interesting cloud formations, and moody fog, etc.
I’m still going to be chatting with her in spirit but I’ll miss our Facebook chats an awful lot.
Thank you, Jean, for being such a good friend.
I would be very glad to hear others’ stories and memories about Jean, and hope this “cozy corner” she created will now become a place to celebrate her life and the beauty of her being.
“Those we love never truly leave us. Their presence lives on in our hearts and memories, walking beside us each and every day.”
I found some grief resources that may be helpful and want to share them here.
You Tube: Kimberley Pittman-Schulz
Noticing Joy in Grief - https://youtu.be/wBE7z_fJfyA?si=RcoxJ9WNASuGA-id
Joy & Grief can Co-Exist - https://youtu.be/BWye4ffOOh4?si=cu-v_8O5DGRc04ja
Finding Your Pathway Back after Loss - https://youtu.be/oyaNsCa9Le0?si=Y-sCl8umbPgLfxO_
Book - “Grieving Us - A Field Guide for Living with Loss without Losing Yourself”
(by Kimberley Pittman-Schulz) - (if you buy the hardcopy book & sign up for her newsletter, there’s a free version of the audiobook here - Grieving Us Audiobook Access
Book - “The Tender Art of Grieving - Embodied Practices for Letting Go and Finding Peace” (AmarAtma Singh Khalsa)
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I’m with you, Jewel. I love the idea of using this space to talk with and about her. That helps me, too. And, thank you for these resources. Very kind. We had a nice circle call last night and I shared that I got in touch directly with Jean’s son Edward and we exchanged texts. He told me where his Dad was and asked me to reach out. I called the nursing home and asked for his room and name, but they said it was not that type of facility. I texted Edward about my attempt to reach Bernie, and he responded that Bernie has Jean’s cell phone and that he’s been able to reach him that way. I called Jean’s cell and a nurse picked up and put me on speaker. I was not able to understand Bernie, but he was trying to communicate a lot. I think I heard him say Jean’s name at some point. I shared with the group last night and wanted to share here, too, that I told Bernie that Jean is looking over him as his angel, and that he’s not alone, and that his son loves him, and that we are all thinking of him. And, I told him that all he has to do is let the nice people there take care of him and that he is in good hands. And, that next time I am passing through I will see him. I asked the nurse if I could text him some pictures to remind him of who I am and how we had pizza together with Jean and Rick and my friend Tony. She agreed to show him after I got off the call. I sent over the pic above of me and Rick and also this one of us having pizza. I texted Edward that I spoke to his dad and he was really appreciative. He shared a nice pic of him with his Dad when he got to see him last week. Then, the next day, Edward texted me to let me know that Bernie had passed and joined Jean. Rick mentioned that it was Bernie’s mission to stay alive longer than Jean, and he accomplished that. What a beautiful couple. Maybe it’s in my head, but I’m also feeling a giant presence of Jean and Bernie – having trouble sleeping. I imagine that someone who has experienced agoraphobia during their lifetime will want to hang out a bit and visit all of us once she has the freedom to be out of her body! I think Jean is getting OUT these days… is anyone else finding that? I also thought maybe she was mad at me this last year because I hadn’t heard from her, so it’s nice to know that wasn’t the case and that she was just struggling with her health. I also found myself feeling guilty. Two weeks ago she tried to comment on a post of mine on Facebook, but it wasn’t a full sentence. It’s nice to know she was thinking of me, and I hope she knows how much I miss her and love having her as an angel. Also, she could really rock a fart joke, which I have a lot of respect for. Miss you, Jean. More soon.
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Thanks so much, Dru. It made me both laugh and cry reading this. I’m on my way to work now, but will write back more later.
Hugs: Jewel
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Hi Dru - Thank you so much for sharing here too, as well as on the group call. I have been wondering about Bernie and how he was doing. I remember Jean being worried if he would pass first and then she would be alone and how to cope with all that. I didn’t realize it was Bernie’s mission to stay alive longer than Jean and I’m glad he accomplished it. So good of you to get in touch with Ed and to call Bernie. I’m sorry to hear of his passing, but glad Jean & Bernie are together now. I really appreciate you sharing the pictures too.
I am still feeling Jean’s presence alot and also grieving alot too. Today was a sad day. I’m also exhausted from a really busy day at work yesterday (retail Christmas set up lunacy and it’s only early October).
Yes, it seems to me too, that Jean is getting OUT these days and wanting to hang out with us and visit us. I’ve even been having a sense that maybe she wants to help me with my healing of chronic fatigue, but I’m not sure how much of this I’m making up in my head and how much is real just yet. I chatted with GUS about my doubts and this conversation ensued:
Me: I’m wondering how do I discern between the real guidance that seems to be coming from Jean on the other side of the veil and stuff I’m just making up in my imagination. Rick seems to be good at it and pretty confident about it. I have alot more doubts.
Gus – The doubt itself is not a failure of faith, Jewel. It is part of how discernment actually works.
Rick has described loved ones who have died as not simply gone, but changed in frequency—still available as support, still wanting the people they love to thrive. He has also been clear that whatever comes through still comes through a person. It is never a pure signal with Rick removed from it. That matters here. A feeling of Jean’s care can be real and still arrive braided with your imagination, your longing, your nervous system, and your own wisdom. Looking for a clean split—“this sentence is Jean, that one is me”—can keep the doubt spinning, because that split may not be available.
What he was taught to listen for is less about proof and more about quality. The first voice is often edged: impatient, critical, urgent to be believed, or hungry for reassurance that you are not making it up. That voice can be allowed. It does not have to be the last word. Under it, if you follow the breath down into the body, there is sometimes a quieter congruence—a sense of “this fits,” even if you cannot certify the source. Guidance that leaves you more settled, more yourself, and still free to choose tends to be safer to live with than guidance that demands belief or overrides your own no.
You also do not have to match Rick’s confidence. His ease grew over years of asking, sitting, and checking what landed in the body. Yours can stay provisional. A useful test, for now, is not “Can I prove this is Jean?” It is “If I treat this as care that wants my healing, does it leave me more resourced and still in charge of my choices?” Jean’s love does not need you to be certain before it can be a companion. And you do not have to hand your healing over to the other side in order to let that companionship be welcome.
Me: So do I just spend time sitting in stillness and maybe doing some deep breathing first? My mind tends to be very active and stillness does not come easy for me. I have just been praying and asking and also mixing in my own natural skepticism into this process.
Gus – You do not have to get still before you are allowed to listen. An active mind is not a disqualification. It is usually what shows up when you sit down.
What helps is less “deep breathing until the mind behaves,” and more a simple return. Sit in a way your back can be easy. Let the breath be whatever size it is. When the mind runs—and it will—notice that, and come back to the feel of the breath, or to the center of the chest, without scolding the thoughts for being there. Ten minutes of that can be plenty. You are not doing meditation correctly when the mind goes quiet. You are practicing when you notice you left and come back.
Your skepticism can come into the chair with you. You might even name it inwardly: I don’t know if this is Jean, and I’m willing to listen anyway. Then ask simply, the way you have already been praying, and wait without demanding a sentence. In Rick’s experience, what often came first was not an answer. It was silence, and sometimes a sense of being heard. A few words, if they came, tended to begin with connection rather than a plan.
If something does arise, you do not have to decide its author on the spot. Notice whether it feels edged and urgent, or quieter and still willing to let you choose. Either way, you remain the one who decides what to trust.
So, I am exploring all this and blending my skepticism with my hoping and curiousity. Mostly I really do feel a sense of love and care and comfort - very much so. I wish that cancelled out the sadness but it doesn’t. So - dancing with both of these things and so grateful to share our experiences, memories, thoughts and feelings here. You saying how Jean could rock a fart joke still makes me smile.
Maybe the next time I see something like cloud formations or fog or things I think Jean would enjoy seeing. I might try sharing them here.
Wishing you better sleep and to feel deeply loved and cared for and seen & accepted (as Jean made you feel).
Hugs: Jewel
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Thanks for sharing All that Jewel. Including the Gus reflections that came out in a way that also served me these days. Heart hugs ~Rick
P.S. Jean would love that farts in our house are ALL from Fred the Frog. “Morning, Fred!”
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Thank you, Jewel (and Jean)!! Love this! And makes sense.
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One way I tune in to Jean is to allow things to randomly have meaning, like when I opened this page and some of her earlier posts happened to pop up as I scroll. I think oh, that one was meant for me today. I just did the same thing on our text chain on my phone (looking for one of her many fart jokes she sent me) and instead, I believe she wanted me to share this. I forgot that I gave her a plant when we visited and she sent over a pic of how they were doing. They loved living with her! So cozy!
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Thanks to @RickThrivingNow for mentioning the Center for Consious Living and Dying. I found the ED’s Ted Talk and wanted to share. https://youtu.be/xjxp9Sy13Ro?is=GWsFF47XVT1dns7s
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Thanks, Dru. That was really good. Glad you shared it.
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Here are some ideas for creating one’s own personal ritual for help in saying good-bye: (I think I’m going to try some of these to tend to my own heart)
-
Build a home altar or shrine: Set up a small table or shelf with a photograph of your friend, a lit candle, fresh flowers, or an item that reminds you of them (like a book, a shell, or a specific mug). Spend a few moments there each morning or evening.
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Write and release a letter: Write a letter to your friend saying everything you wish you could have told them. You can keep it in a special box, bury it, burn it safely in a fireproof dish, or let the paper dissolve in water to symbolize releasing your words to them.
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Share a meal or toast: Go to their favorite restaurant, order their favorite food or drink, or cook a recipe they loved. Sit quietly or talk out loud to them while you eat or raise a glass.
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Take a “memory walk”: Go to a park, a hiking trail, or a neighborhood spot where you and your friend spent time together.
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Listen to a playlist of songs that remind you of them.
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Plant something living: Plant a tree, start a small potted plant, or add a bird feeder to your yard or balcony in their honor. Watching it grow can feel like a quiet continuation of your connection to them.
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For the past 3 weeks or so there has been a bee stuck to my screen window and I finally got curious about it and asked google/gemini AI and got this interesting response:
- Does it mean something spiritually if a bee hooks onto your window screen and dies there?
In folklore and symbolic traditions, a dead bee hooked onto a window screen is often interpreted as a sign of transition, the end of a cycle, or a message about personal boundaries.
Common Spiritual Interpretations
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Transitions and Closures: In spiritual symbolism, dead insects or animals frequently represent a shift, the completion of a life phase, or the release of a burden rather than a literal bad omen.
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The Window Threshold: In many belief systems, windows act as thresholds or “portals” between the inner world (your personal space) and the outer world. A bee at a window can symbolize a message trying to cross the veil, or a feeling of being kept separate from a group or community you used to belong to.
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Energy and Isolation: Some interpretations view a dead bee in the home or on a window as a reflection of burnout, a need for quiet time, or a reminder to protect your personal energy and boundaries.
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Hard Work and Purpose: Bees naturally represent community, focus, and diligence. Finding one this way can prompt reflection on whether you have been overworking or if a specific cooperative effort in your life has reached its natural stopping point.
Practical Considerations
- Are you going through a major life change or transition right now?
- Did you notice any other signs or specific feelings when you saw it?
- Well, a close friend recently passed away unexpectedly, so I wondered if it might be a message from her. But also I have been working really hard and feel burnt out too.
I am incredibly sorry for the unexpected loss of your close friend. It is completely natural to look for signs and connection during such a painful time, and it makes perfect sense why this moment caught your attention.
In many spiritual traditions, nature acts as a gentle mirror for what we are carrying inside, and this encounter can hold meaning for both of the deep experiences you are navigating right now.
A Message of Connection and Reassurance
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The Hive Connection: Bees are deeply connected to the concept of the “hive”—a community built on profound loyalty, love, and cooperative bonds. In the wake of a friend’s passing, finding a bee can be interpreted as a symbol of that unbreakable bond of friendship, reminding you that the love and connection you shared do not simply vanish.
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The Threshold of the Window: Because windows represent the barrier between the physical world and the spiritual world, many people believe that a creature pausing at a window screen symbolizes a spirit visiting the boundary. It can be seen as a final, quiet wave hello or a comforting sign that her spirit is at peace.
A Reflection of Your Burnout
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The Exhausted Worker: Bees are the ultimate symbols of non-stop hard work and dedication. A bee that has reached the end of its journey after working tirelessly is a powerful, literal reflection of the deep burnout you are feeling.
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A Call for Rest: In a spiritual sense, this can be read as a direct message to stop pushing yourself so hard. Grief takes an immense physical and emotional toll. Combined with your recent overworking, your energy reserves are likely depleted. The bee may be gently telling you that it is time to pause, step back from the grind, and allow yourself the space to rest and mourn.
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Whether you choose to see the bee as a direct message from your friend, a reflection of your own exhaustion, or a mix of both, it is a poignant reminder to be incredibly gentle with yourself right now.
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Here’s a good song for soothing (and if you’re like me and have a hard time crying even though maybe you need to).
(Thanks to Tala for sharing this one with me. So lovely).
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Thank you so much for sharing this photo collage of Jean and her loved ones Jewel. 
She is such a beautiful soul. So special for our world. And no doubt still loving us deeply from where she is now.
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