When Loved Ones Passed Come For A Visit.
- Marliana Alisemon
- 5 days ago
- 3 min read
Hi everybody! (imagine me yelling this like Jennifer Coolidge on "Two Broke Girls" LOL)
It's been a hot minute since I've had the space and mindset to share another blog post. I am super grateful I found the space to do so today!
I want to share my recent story of when my step mother Rita showed up for a visit. (Please email me back and share your stories of a time when you knew a loved one was visiting)
When loved ones passed come for a visit, Spirit can show up in many ways, shapes and forms and messages.
On the evening of September 26th 2025, I had made a date to go out with my husband to share a meal at Spiros on 17ave and to pick up my new custom sweaters and t shirts I ordered.
My husband got home from work and we headed out. My son was helping his grandma decorate for Halloween so we had a kid free evening. When we are together my husband likes to drive, he has always loved to drive and keeps his passenger princess safe haha LOL So we were headed downtown to pick up my shirts and go for dinner.
And as we were heading into downtown we were shuffled of course with construction and detours. (wink wink) which coincidently took us right to a grocery store my dad and Rita would take us too when we were little. It's a little Greek grocers right in the beltline called "Kalamata" and who was walking out of the store? Rita. (Not really Rita, she's been gone for 15 years now) It was identical to her, just a younger and more vibrant Rita, then the woman who left us sick with lung and brain cancer. It honestly took me back, my smile widened I was so joyous and filled with grief and loss all at once.
I shared it with my husband Craig, and he saw her too. He grabbed my hand and just held me. (I love this dude) And just how it worked with detours etc. we ended up right at the Palliser building that Rita ran and worked at for decades. (another clear connection she was talking to us) I smiled and said "Hi my Rita, I feel you so much right now" and the joy and grief kept swirling and my eyes kept leaking,
In true fashion with downtown Calgary it can be hard to navigate and find where you're going LOL and we fumbled around trying to find this custom t-shirt place. Where did we end up? at The Tiki Bar. I had no idea there was such a bar in Calgary, but we ended up right in front of it, staring us in the face. Why does this matter you ask?
For those who know me, and my families history a bit when I was much younger and living with my dad and Rita, they were renting a four level split home. And all of us decided to turn the third floor into a tiki bar. We would all party down there, drink and smoke... spend all hours of the night down there. And I shit you not it looked like this bar. Neon lights, straw umbrellas, tiki lights the whole nine.
At this point I am laughing uproariously because now she's just making this too much fun.
My eyes are streaming out tears of joy and knowing, grief and loss all at once. And then... Tom Petty shuffles in on YouTube, one of Rita's most favorite bands was Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers. Craig and I are both laughing and crying.
And we finally find the shop. Our shirts weren't ready and had a couple of hiccups with the print. So we decided to go for dinner first and then come back.
All in all it was a fantastic evening, Rita was with us the entire time and my custom shirts look great and I had a date night with my husband. ACES in my books!
Thank you for joining me on this light hearted journey today! If you'd like to follow along you can find me on social media!
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