Dear Friends, Family, and Spiritual Community, It's been 13 days now and I wake up each morning with the feeling that Rio is just out of town at a workshop or visiting a friend and that she'll be back tomorrow or sometime this week ... just doesn't seem real that she's not physically here anymore. These past days have been so overwhelming and have been completely consumed with being present with her immediate family that I've been unable to communicate via email or phone except for friends close by who have helped reach just a small portion of Rio's extended spiritual family. I have just now returned from Rio's childhood home where her immediate family and I have been observing the sacred and very healing Jewish tradition of Shiva with extended family and members of our spiritual communities. Since the close of the seven days of Shiva since Rio's funeral service, it's been very difficult and thanks to the love and support of close friends, I did not have to come back home alone. It is with their love and support that I am composing this letter now at this moment. It is with indescribable sadness, grief, and sorrow that I am sharing this news with you... Rio made her transition on Tuesday, February 26, at our home in Hendersonville, North Carolina after seven months of dealing with advanced metastatic breast cancer. Even after receiving this diagnosis on July 13th of last year, three days after returning from leading a phenomenal trip to Damanhur (in Italy) and visiting Wales, Glastonbury, Avebury, and one of the largest crop circles ever formed, it was only in the last month before her passing that she started feeling tired. Rio continued to live life to the fullest and enjoyed her dream of living in the mountains that began in the fall of 2006. The weeks before and since her passing have been truly blessed with divinely orchestrated love, support, and healing from friends, family, and the community. Rio passed peacefully in my arms and surrounded by the supportive, loving, and compassionate embrace of my parents and a small group of dear friends. A total of eight of us surrounded Rio with an infinity number of light and love. The very moment after it had been announced that Rio had made her transition at 5:52 AM, I kissed her on the lips and as if coming back to life for that moment, she took her last breath. For many days and even weeks before, Rio's spirit was already giving messages to many people and since that moment she has been dancing and soaring in the light and working through, energetically assisting, and playing with many of us here on the physical plane. There are so many amazing stories to tell about how Rio's spirit has been touching and communicating with so many people since her passing. If you haven't already, I would like to make a request for Love Letters to Rio and Love Stories about special memories you have of her and how she made a difference in your life. I am asking for your assistance in getting the word out to anyone you can think of who knew Rio and who may not have received this e-mail. For those dear beloved friends of Rio who are unable to attend this celebration of Rio's life with our beloved spiritual family/community in central NC, my hope is that there will be more of these celebrations in other locations (especially Los Angeles and Asheville - both hold a beloved place in our hearts with countless precious memories from when we first met in L.A. in April of 1990, Agape, the birthplace of the LaHo-Chi, our wedding, and our first spiritual family/community to the mountain family/community of Asheville). At this time, I am going from moment to moment and don't have any idea when these might happen. Maybe I'll get a message from Rio as to the possibilities. She has been communicating quite regularly and will most likely let me know once I start putting things in motion. I would like to extend a tremendous hug of love and gratitude for all the support and healing love, flowers, cards, and e-mails. If you are just now hearing the news of our Beloved Rio's transition, I am at a loss for words to express how to share this unbelievable information. All the love and support overflowing from the community and the immense blessing of the love surrounding Rio through her transition has been truly healing with the shock, disbelief, and soul-searching pain. Rio's family and I are eternally grateful for all the support and welcome any contact or words that you may wish to share. Even after the period of Shiva, Rio's parents, George and Muriel would be very grateful for anyone to visit and give comfort and share stories about Rio and how she touched their life. All my love, Dan P.S. I know that the immense shock upon hearing of Rio's transition is like some sad dream that is not real and that she is away on a trip somewhere and will return next week or sometime soon. Over the past two weeks, she was, has been, and is now working on the other side helping others here and having glorious adventures with new realms of light and hanging out with the ascended masters, angels, and more. She has been coming to so many with her loving energy, guidance, and playful spirit. Please share with me any experience you may have with Rio from the other side. This is very comforting and healing. P.P.S. I want to share with you a message from Rio that came to me this morning as I was just waking up. Even though Rio can really be everywhere and with everyone simultaneously, the human part of us is mourning the loss of Rio's physical presence, her laugh, her infinitely huge heart, and her loving embrace. This is most painful part for me and I'm sure for everyone who knew her. For those who could not attend or did not receive notice in time, my deepest apologies. Her message this morning was to add this next part to this e-mail that I am sending out today. She said that in the circumstance that only those who lived close enough and could arrange it on just a day's notice to attend her memorial and funeral service, she wants to offer this request. At her funeral service, there was the sacred act of the traditional Jewish funeral ritual of having every person in attendance place three shovelfuls of earth onto Rio's coffin. The final blessing came as the Rabbi asked me to place on top of all the earth, placed by everyone there, the rose quartz heart that I had placed on Rio's heart just after she passed at 5:52 AM, and some ashes from Israel. (There is more to the significance of this time that I will share later and much more of Rio's spirit orchestrations). As a way of continuing this sacred act of contact and blessing with the physical energies of Mother Earth, Rio asked that you plant a rose quartz heart in honor of her spirit and for the healing of the Earth and all life this beautiful planet. This has a very special meaning for Rio as she and I have been planting rose quartz hearts around the world as part of the One Heart Project started by Suzi Leonard in 2001 (if I remember correctly). Most of these rose quartz hearts fit in your palm of your hand and some that we have planted have been larger in size. The most important thing is your intention and to follow your intuition and inner guidance as where to plant a rose quartz heart or hearts. We also gave many hearts to friends from other places around the world with the intention of creating healing grid of rose quartz hearts around the planet. In meditation, connect with the rose quartz heart and imagine activating it's light with your heart energy and then linking it to all the hearts around the world. *Thank you for the opportunity to share this precious message from Rio. In meditation, you can also light a candle, close your eyes, and tune into Rio. She likes the light of the flame, like her Aries nature. I also would love to receive any messages that you may receive. Thank you. Love, Dan. Back