Death Has a Heart

A Tribute to My Sister Margaret (Meg) Mullin, VMD

My sister lived so fully. Thank you Dr. Brendan Furlong and all team members at Bwfurlong & associates for giving her such monumental support and opportunities to live her dreams. Even in the afterlife…as this is her dream venue to be Celebrated at– the home of the USET here at Gladstone. It is such a HUGE honor… and a HUGE showing (nearly 500)! Thank you all for coming out tonight to Celebrate Meg’s incredible life.

We are all missing Meg terribly, but I think I am missing her most… because at any special gathering she was my Hair and Makeup girl. I’ll bet you didn’t know she recently confessed while drying my hair: “If I wasn’t a vet I would def be a Hair and Makeup Artist.”

For those of you who don’t know me… I am Kumari or Karen, the woo-woo oldest sister… 33 years ago I left civil rights law after our father died of lung cancer…as I struggled with his death, I wanted to understand how I could offer MORE about easing suffering which led me to….

a spiritual teacher… and I became a Reiki Master, intuitive healer, an animal communicator looooong before it was even a thing. I just wanted to give some context for what I am about to share…

Perhaps you expect I will share how much Muggy meant to all of us

• How she was a dedicated equine Veterinarian and traveled the globe with various US teams
• a passionate Polo player and excellent equestrian
• extreme Eagles fan even serving on the Fan Board and flying up for games from FL
• loved tennis and yoga and skiing — she could still do a full split at 60!!
• how we shared a 50 year obsession with BRUCE Springsteen…
• or how she was a Loving Auntie to so many of your children, loving them like her very own:
• Nephews Mitch and Nicholas,
• Brett’s –Charlie and EJ
• Tammy and Lars Axel and Isabell
• and all of our cousins…

She would bend my ear for hours about your escapades 🙂

• Or how her clients truly adored her: like Robbie Burroughs:
  “I am devastated, but I do want to celebrate her life, her incredible legacy. When I met Meg, I instantly knew there was nobody else that I wanted treating my horses. She was just so damn good. She knew horses on a level that few do. Every time I was around her it was like being in a master class of horsemanship. Meg had this amazing ability to make hard times just a little bit easier and the good times that much more rewarding. Every time she was at the barn or competition, she made you feel like the most important person. I trusted her opinions and her guidance  probably more than anyone in my life. Having Meg as my vet, my captain really, allowed me to become a better trainer, a better rider, a better horseman. I want to say thank you Meg for your guidance, your support, your service and most of all your friendship. –Robbie Burroughs, Show Rider and Head Trainer at ROB Burroughs Showhorses

As truly difficult as this has been for me, and all of us. .. I am also reminded of something my spiritual teacher would say frequently, as we dealt with so much death running an AIDS hospice. She would often say “DEATH has a Heart.”

I didn’t really get it back then. It seemed too awful to find anything positive at the time.

But this February I had a milestone birthday, and instead of having a big party which my husband offered, I said all I really want is my sisters to come visit. But they couldn’t come on my actual birthday … so they came two weeks earlier. Thank goodness!!!!!

As it turns out not even 30 hours before her accident, my sisters came over the weekend and we had a PERFECT visit which I will be forever grateful for.

Death has a heart… and I am starting to understand.

So back to the woo woo part…while others were very skeptical, Meg was always open. She FELT the Reiki when I first shared it with her. She ended up studying with me and sneaking it into her practice. She trusted my intuition about why horses were lame or sick, or other things that were bothering them…sometimes way more than I did.

I will never forget the first time she called me about a horse that was dying from what appeared to be colic. She was a brand new vet and many experienced vets were also stumped. She wanted to understand what was happening and learn from it. I told her I ‘saw” a tumor right near the girth on the left side. The horse died quickly and  an autopsy was performed. She was so excited for ME… “You were right. It was a tumor and it was exactly where you said.” Incredibly confirming.

While I was sending Reiki to the horse, I felt an extraordinary RELEASE and joyful expansion is the only way I could describe the sensation. I was so excited and assumed the horse was healing…but Meg said “NO she just passed.” (I now know this is how it feels when a person or animal leaves the constraints of the physical body and expands back into Spirit or pure consciousness.  But back then I felt terrible that I read the energy “wrong” as the feeling was SO darn wonderful. But Meg shared the truly liberating feeling I experienced with the horses’ people and she told me it comforted them greatly.

…this was the beginning of a beautiful friendship …

But it sure wasn’t always this way!

There is a story that will help explain.

A renowned spiritual Master gathered many students living with him in a  large community. One day a group of members approached the Teacher and reported that everyone was humming along, diligently doing their daily spiritual practices, cheerfully interacting with others with kindness and compassion, selflessly performing their service to the community. All in all, things were going swimmingly.

EXCEPT … for one person. The GARDENER. She was disrupting the peace. Instigating trouble much of the time. Often quite LOUD and argumentative. Having parties and bringing in unapproved foods and alcohol … like Kava and caviar!

And totally unpredictable. Her moods swung like a pendulum.  Why….

[Sing] “She could laugh and cry in a single sound.”  — For You, Bruce Springsteen

One member reports that she was meditating quietly in the corner, and the gardener snuck up behind her, and clobbered her ==El Kabong style== over the head with a plastic banjo. FOR NO REASON! When asked why, the gardener shrugged: JUST TO SEE WHAT WOULD HAPPEN!!!!!

Master, we all feel that life in our community will be so much more serene, more spiritual, if you just ask the gardener to please LEAVE now. She just doesn’t get it, and doubtful ever will.

At this The Master doubled over laughing ….and shook his head. “Oh no, no The Gardener stays… how do you think I am going to get all of you to reach Enlightenment???”

~~~

In case you are wondering where I am going with this … for much of my life, believe it or not, Meg was my “gardener.” I can probably safely say, she was our whole family’s gardener. Perhaps some of her work family too at times.

Where I craved peace and quiet, she loved chaos and noise. OH. So. LOUD. Where I valued cooperation, she thrived on competition. Where I was reserved and stuffed my feelings, she exploded at regular intervals. She was the polar opposite of me…or so I thought.

Growing up into adulthood, the ups and downs continued. In the down swings, she often felt left out, and doubted herself deeply at times. She often lamented she was not quite good enough…. smart enough, pretty enough.  Crazy, I know right?

She used to call me when she was in the pits, for help and advice, then often get angry if I offered any!!! I was at my wits end how to help her.

Finally I said, “Well, I am living in a spiritual community to find a better way to deal with all these life challenges. Maybe you should try some of what I am doing to find more joy and peace. Perhaps even find a teacher too.”  And she did, in a most unexpected twist.

She came to me. One day after hours again on the phone trying to console her… my beloved husband Kumara observed: “Meg is your student. I said “OH NO that is not happening! She is my sister, and my greatest challenge. I am NOT accepting her as student. I am definitely not up for being her Teacher.”

Frankly, this was as much about my inability to be a detached Mentor as it was about Meg… her ability to trigger me was legendary.

But he was right of course. She became my student, taking every course I taught over the years. She became a powerful energy healer and Reiki Master, quite intuitive animal communicator and got serious about managing her mindset so she could consciously manifest more of her dreams.

In her too short life, she ticked off an impressive collection of major bucket list items: some you all are aware of

• Charming historic home in idyllic town of Clinton NJ,
• a home on a lake in Wellington complete with a party pontoon boat,
• 3 amazing polo ponies and terriers Lucy then Scooby,
• thriving practice with premier equine vets,
• TEAM vet for Para dressage team including TOKYO Paralympics,
• YOUTH TEAMS vet traveling throughout Europe
• and the last huge hoorah… SUPER BOWL with her beloved EAGLES … and Brett.

She called me and asked: “Do you think I am crazy to spend a fortune to go to the Super Bowl?”

I said YES… and you have to do it. Three more calls that week, as she was hoping to manifest some cheaper tickets…and finally she reported “I got tickets.” K: Great Manifesting Meg! She replied a bit sheepishly: “my credit card manifested them.” HAH!!

Those are the big obvious wins… but l love these as much or more…

1) She was called out to euthanize a horse, and she took him aside and told him exactly what was about to happen, as she now knew they could understand so much more than anyone would think. She then added how nice it would be if he was positioned near a small hill, so when his body collapsed, it was easier for his humans to deal with. He immediately went out of the barn and walked to the exact spot Meg mentioned and waited for her. She was beyond thrilled for his gracious acceptance and precise understanding.

2) All the times she called me (mostly secretly) over the years about her clients horses when she was stuck, and she remained open as I shared what I got intuitively, which I didn’t always fully understand, and instead of poo-pooing it, she then told me how it could relate to what she knew as a vet… we both  learned so much this way.

3)  Or the many times she called me since taking my esoteric Divine Human year long program recently (which I tried to dissuade her from, saying it is really out there).  She insisted this was the program she wanted; and she called me so many times saying:  “I just listened to MODULE #___ and I am in total BLISS… I am flying so high…  I feel so much peace…I don’t have words…”

4) or the time when she was preparing to go to Tokyo Paralympics and called me the night before. I was having a really hard day and began listing all the things going haywire…

She laughed, a bit maniacally, and said her newest affirmation: “Everything is working out perfectly for me!!! ” “Even though I don’t have the Covid paperwork done and no one knows how to complete it; I am not packed yet and it is 10 pm and i have very early flight…

everything is working out perfectly for me”.

Ahhhhh that sublime (if slightly annoying) moment when the student becomes the Teacher….

One of her long time friends agreed with me that Meg had transformed more than either of us ever thought possible …into the amazing accomplished woman you all know today…and finding more and more peace and bliss and wisdom than either of us imagined.

And I have to admit it was her shadow side, the part that caused her (and me) so much pain sometimes, instead of caving in to despair, she used it for fuel, to deepen her understanding…of herself, of others, of our world and ultimately opened up her spiritual side.

And these not so pretty parts of her also pushed me to be more accepting, more forgiving, more compassionate and creative.  And stronger.  A better teacher … a better sister.

~~~

For those of you who need to hear this part….

So remember the woo woo part….Did I mention that I can also communicate with people, unconscious or even in spirit?

I was the first one at the Trauma ICU, and sitting at her bedside right after the fall, I knew she wasn’t coming back.

But I prayed I was wrong… as I wasn’t ready to let her go…none of us were.

and I hoped some vintage BRUCE might turn the tide

[Sing] “I came for you, for you, I came for you, but you did not need my urgency”

Meg clearly communicated with me that her Soul did not give her an option to have any kind of recovery that was remotely acceptable to her…

Death very well may have a Heart.

A bit later, she said her Soul showed her that her next life would be MUCH easier, free of many of the burdens of this life.  This seemed to cement her inner decision to move on.

[Sing]  “We came for you, for you, we came for you, but your life was one long emergency
And your cloud line urges me, and your ENERGY surges free”

The only healing her Being truly accepted those two weeks was to facilitate Her life force to leave her body very intentionally — with five of us close ones present. It was one of the most unusual and stunning and profound transitions I have ever witnessed. Of course.

It was Muggy.

Lessons I’ve Learned from GROWING UP with Muggy

[Sing] ooooh oooooh Growing UP

1. Don’t judge; Things come full circle. Growing up she used to copy me all the time…wear my clothes, even copied my handwriting. It really creeped me out at the time. NOW, I am wearing her clothes, even  her makeup and loving it.
2. Be kind to your veterinarians…its especially hard on them when they see animals suffer and are not sure the animals (or their people) can understand they are really trying to help;
3. Follow your Bliss…no matter how old you are; it can lead to an extraordinary life.
4. Say YES more…to adventures, to people, to life
5. Whatever you do, do it with Passion
6. Healing aka Becoming Whole, does not always look the way we want it to.
7. Being a great auntie is a significant role for every family
8. Best to not keep plastic banjos lying around unattended with the kiddos, ’nuff said
9. I have a new mantra –WWMD — What would MEG do?
10. Don’t be too quick to cast out the Gardeners from your life, You never know who will push you onto your path, and become your student, your teacher, or closest friend.
11. Tell people how much you admire and appreciate them BEFORE they are gone… a lot!!!

So now what?

So now we can either spend all of our time wondering why this happened now
Or we can focus on being grateful for the gift she gave us by allowing us to take light from her bright flame.

The thing is that light still burns in us. All of us.
Let’s try and share that light with the people we love.
And that’s enough. It’s more than enough.

*****SPARKLERS

If you wish, you may take a moment and invite more of Meg’s Light to sparkle in your own Hearts.