222

 

My 13-year-old son Rory died February 22, 2005.

 

On March 30, 2005, I wrote the following in my Journal:

 

“Last night, 

I woke up, 

looked at my watch 

and it was 2:22 ~ 

it startled me 

and I wondered if I had seen it correctly, 

so I checked again.  

2:22.  

Rory died on 2.22.  

It felt like a sign of connection.  

I have been asking you to come thru ~ 

to connect with me - 

perhaps you did?  

Thank you sweetie, please do it again.”

 

Just 36 days earlier

my most amazing 13-year-old son Rory 

died on 2-22-05 

following a 6-month odyssey with brian cancer.  

Rory loved numbers, 

and black holes 

and parallel universes 

and time travel 

and Albert Einstein.  

It was clear to me, 

even then, 

that his work here was complete.  

So, he left his physical body 

and was on to the next adventure.

 

About a week later, 

I woke up again.  

In the middle of the night.  

I checked my watch.  

2:22.  

With a huge smile 

and a knowing in my heart, 

I said, “I get it.  

I really do.  

We will connect with each other through the numbers “222.”

 

And we have.  

Over and over again, 

in ways that continue

almost 9 years later 

to astound, 

surprise 

and delight me.

 

That first New Year’s Eve, 

after Rory died, 

I took Sean to Disney World.  

To escape.  

To get away.  

To create new memories.  

To have fun. 

Not only would it be our first holiday season without Rory physically present, 

but that New Year’s Day was the 7th anniversary of my wife Trici’s death. 

And January 2nd 

would have been my daughter Erin’s 17th birthday, 

had she lived.   

It’s a complicated time of year for us.

 

I booked our room at one of the many, many Disney hotel properties.  

I can’t say I was 100% surprised 

when the man at the desk handed me my room key and said, 

“Welcome to Disney World, Mr. Zuba.  

You’ll be in Room 222.”  

Rory was with us.  

Always.  

Even at Disney.

 

I have seen 222 everywhere.  

 On the sides of buses, 

on billboards, 

on license plates.  

It’s even tattooed on Maroon 5’s Adam Levine’s left arm.

 

About a year and a half ago I began to wonder.  

Okay, 

I connect with Rory through the numbers “222,” 

but what about Erin and Trici?  

Where are they in all of this?  

 

And then it came to me.

 

Erin’s birthday is January 2.

 

Trici’s birthday is May 22.

 

I believe that the three of them are home.  

In the presence of the Divine, 

always.  

It is not just Rory present in 222.  

It’s all three of them. 

Together.  

And when I have completed the work I came to do.

I’ll return home.  

I’ll join them.

 

And so will you.

 

Now you know.

 

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