Photo of Mount Baker from my Bellingham window

Very gently, but firmly, I was led onward to complete acceptance. It was Tom, of course, who got me to relax and enjoy my new universe. I shouldn't have been surprised that he had a wonderful gift for me hidden right in my new home in Bellingham, and that he'd set up all the clues to help me find it. Here is how I got that gift.

One afternoon, I was chatting with one of my new neighbors, an elderly lady who'd lived in the area all her life. She was regaling me with tales of the famous moments in the history of her Bellingham. Learning that my husband was an actor, she suddenly remarked, "Did you know they shot the movie Call of the Wild with Clark Gable and Loretta Young right up on Mount Baker?" She pointed to the snowcapped peak easily visible from both our houses. That she would have even heard of the old movie Call of The Wild was a shock. But I guess the filming of a movie from the Golden Age of Hollywood with two movie star legends is one of the really big events in the history of Bellingham.

But all I could think was ‘no, she did not just say that Call of the Wild, the movie which was such a special dream message to me way back in New Jersey, the dream kiss goodbye, she didn’t say that that movie was shot right here on Mount Baker?’ No. I got instant brain freeze. Tom, how did you do that? I'm sure I went on chatting normally, but my mind was in an excited turmoil.

Old black and white movies from the Golden Age of Hollywood had always been one of our shared passions from our very first date. Tom and I had seen, studied, and enjoyed so many of those old movies together. This message was a super special bon-bon meant just for me; one whose sentimental impact and significance I could not possibly miss, or help being thrilled by.

My rational mind was standing on its head, saying things like no, no, I don't believe it. It can't be true. The movie where Tom and our dog were together and where Tom kissed me goodbye. The movie I dreamt about months ago, back in New Jersey, before I had even heard of Bellingham; the movie Tom made sure that I watched the very next day when it aired on TV by showing me himself as Clark Gable with our Border collie as Buck, that movie was shot right here in Bellingham? No. I don't believe it. But I'm going to have to start believing, aren't I?

I knew Tom was enjoying this. He was having fun giving me this unexpected gift, this love story wrapped up in a movie riddle. But there was more. Interrupting my inner ruminations, my neighbor was not finished with her story. "Yes, they shot the whole movie up at the Mount Baker Lodge and around Bellingham. They actually shot a bunch of scenes right behind your house on Liberty Street," she added proudly.

On Liberty Street, which my back deck faces. They shot Call of the Wild right there within sight of my back porch. That was the final punch square in the solar plexus of the psyche. I was laughing. The Clark Gable goodbye kiss, the dog, the movie that invaded my dreams, and then appeared on TV that very day. That movie, right here.

Tom is not gone, he's here with me. I believe I went inside and sat down for a very long time. I don't think I thought anything. This was not just snips of future events slipping into my conscious mind; this was a personal message, wrapped up in a special movie, that Tom knew I would find out about, when I moved to where he knew I was going to move. And he was telling me he wanted me to know for sure that he was still with me. I was so happy to think how much he must love me to send me this gift. Every time I walked on Liberty Street, I thought of him and was sure he was with me.

Little did I suspect at the time how important this piece of evidence was, because Tom had a terrible secret to reveal. For him to be believed, and for me to get through the devastating consequences to the real truth of our life was going to take everything in me, all my intelligence, all my sympathy and understanding.



But Liberty Street was the final event that put all doubts about psychic insights to rest forever. I knew there was a spiritual world all around us. I knew that time as we understand it was an illusion. I knew that my dreams sometimes told me things that it was necessary for me to believe and understand.