BRUCE MOEN

Bruce Moen passed away November 14, 2017.  The next day I heard from him.  People all over the world were sharing their feelings and sympathies over the Internet through messages and photos in an outpouring of love, appreciation, and gratitude for his work and for having known him. 

I too was posting and reading and replying, trying to keep up with it all.  The joy of the Internet is the instantaneousness of everything.  If you don’t partake you’ll miss out on the moment things happen, and they happen fast on the Internet.  If it weren’t for all of these people posting and sharing I would be missing out on so much.  And I needed their support as much as they needed it.  We were all there for each other.  So many people hurrying to spread the news, to say their goodbyes and give their love and sentiments and sympathies, and fond and funny memories.  I was so happy to be a part of all of this and to take part in what everyone else was sharing.  Good tears flowing off and on.

I was starting to feel overwhelmed at being pulled in so many different directions at once.  I had people emailing and texting me at the same time.  I was inundated with messages, emails, phone calls, and work to be done on Bruce’s website.  I was juggling it all but all this doing was draining me and I was feeling overwhelmed.  But I knew this frenzy of work needed to be done. 

After hitting Enter for the hundredth time that day I slumped back in my chair hoping for a moment of rest, feigning exhaustion by dropping my arms at my side and letting out a sigh.  I turned my head to look at Bruce’s photo on my desk and said, “Just doing my part!” 

His picture has been sitting right there near the edge the past several days, my coffee cup back seated, to help get me through this difficult time.  I could see his face and I could smile at him and say hi, and it made me feel better.  It was a normal reaction for me to just talk to Bruce whenever I felt like it because I know he always gets my messages.

And to my surprise Bruce responded to my message right at that moment. 

Now, I’ve had many amazing experiences throughout my life but it never ceases to amaze me even when it’s the slightest sensation of nonphysical communication.  It was such a soft and subtle sensation.  If I had not slumped back in my chair for a momentary lull in the bustle I might have missed it, like missing a tinkling of a tiny bell on a busy downtown street. 

So here’s the sequence of it:

Me:  I slump back in my chair, turn to Bruce’s picture and say, “Just doing my part!” with feigned exhaustion.

Bruce:  Instantly in my mind’s eye I see Bruce rubbing his forehead, hear a short chuckle from him, and feel him thinking a feigned “Aye yi yi” in response to me as if he’s overwhelmed and bewildered. 

Me:  I chuckle out loud.  I instantly feel Bruce is here, and I think to myself contact after death is real, and it comes in ways you least expect it to, and oh my God I’m really feeling Bruce’s connection right now!  even though I already know it’s real but I’m still amazed.  Bruce taught me, you just respond and play along.  You can doubt and analyze later but for now just stay in the flow. 

So I quickly think back to him, “There’s just so much to do, I’m pulled all these ways, but I’m happy to play my part in commemorating and honoring you and happy to be a part of it all.”

Bruce: “Yeah I see the circus that’s going on down there.  Everyone scrambling around.  And I’m just enjoying the show!”   

A chuckle from both of us, and now I’m smiling at how easy this kind of communication works. 

Me:  “We’re all busy because of you!  Look at all that love you’re getting,” I quickly respond because it’s what I’m naturally thinking and I’m not trying to overthink what to say.   

Bruce:  Shaking his head in amazement and joy.

Me:  “Well I want to know what’s going on where you are, what do you see, what are you up to?”

Bruce:  “Oh my God, there’s so much going on!  I’m overwhelmed.  But in a good way.”  He says that with the accentuation of putting his left forefinger up in the air, one eye closed, and a raised eyebrow, so that I know what he means. 

“It’s a continuous celebration.  There’s so much to take in, so many people here for me.  And then I get pulled to focus on what’s going on there in the physical because of my death, so I spend time soaking all that in.  I feel everything, all of it.  And then my attention is pulled back here.  But it’s not the same thing as it would be for you in the physical.  For me it’s all happening at once but I can pay attention to it all at the same time.  His experience and my impression was that he was feeling pure joy.  There was no hurry or time constraint.  He was in the moment of it all, experiencing both these realities at once.

Me:  I’m smiling at this surreal experience.  “I hope you’re proud, and pleased!” 

Bruce:  For a moment, no words, but I feel his happiness.  Then he says, “Thanks for doing your part.”  And I get that’s why he communicated right at that moment when I said, “Just doing my part!”  He’s grateful for what everyone’s doing for him and because of him.  Feeling such gratitude.  I could really feel how proud he was that all this, both here and there, was because of him. 

That was it.  I’ll definitely try to tune back in to him another time. 


Bruce, you’re my best friend.  Thanks for the love and the laughs.  I’ll know we’ll have lots of visits again.  And I know I’ll see you again in the Everything Else.  Til next time.