A Birthday Between Two Gates

A Father’s Reflection on Birth, Death, and the Soul’s Long Journey Home

Today is my son's birthday.

He would be 37 years old.

Every year, this date rises like a tide—soft at first, then full, then overwhelming. It is a day that still belongs to the living, a day with cake, photos, and memories of his first breath. But now it also belongs to the soul world, where he has traveled these past years.

In the time after his passing, I found myself searching for a language wide enough to hold both my grief and the reality that his journey did not end. That search became the seed of a novel—Between Two Gates—a story shaped by the possibility that the soul’s path continues, that love can reach across realms, and that death is not an ending but a passage. Much of what came through that book felt less like imagination and more like collaboration, as if Sam himself were helping me understand where he had gone and what awaited him.

On January 27th, 2026, it will be five years since he left his body—five years since the moment he crossed from this world into the next.

And yet… every year, this day reminds me that birth is not a once-in-a-lifetime event.

Birth happens again.

A Birthday That Points Forward

While the world marks the day he arrived here, I find myself thinking of his next birthday—the one that will dawn at the threshold of a new incarnation.

Because if I have learned anything from walking beside him through the pages that came to me—pages he helped me write—it is that the soul never stops moving. Never stops learning. Never stops preparing.

Sam’s story in Between Two Gates begins in the moon sphere—a realm of memory and healing, where the soul reviews its earthly life with clarity and compassion. It is there, in that quiet expanse between worlds, that he encounters his grandfather Poppy, begins to understand the forces that shaped him, and faces the shadow he carried—his rasha, the inner darkness that burdened so much of his life.

That part of the book was never just fiction. It was a way of imagining his journey forward.

Where Might He Be Now?

I often find myself wondering where he travels now—what sphere of consciousness he moves through as he prepares for rebirth.

In the novel, the soul passes through seven realms:

• The Moon — memory, healing, life review

• Mercury — understanding the divine patterns

• Venus — compassion, moral deepening

• The Sun — purpose and cosmic belonging

• Mars — will, courage, and inner strength

• Jupiter — wisdom and insight into others

• Saturn — destiny, karma, preparation for birth

These are not distant planets. They are inner landscapes—cosmic classrooms the soul must cross before returning to Earth.

Some days, I imagine Sam absorbing the gentle wisdom of Venus. Other days, I picture him in the sphere of Mercury, learning the architecture of the universe. And sometimes—especially on days like today—I feel him still near the Moon sphere, close enough that a ripple of thought or a sudden memory carries his presence.

Birthdays have a way of thinning the veil.

In those early months after his passing, there were small confirmations, quiet moments when it was clear that communication from the soul world was possible—signs, synchronicities, and an unmistakable sense of continuity. Those moments do not disappear; they evolve. And today, on this day of his birth, I feel them again.

The Long Preparation for Rebirth

One of the deepest truths that emerged through Between Two Gates is this:

Rebirth is not random. It is shaped. It is earned. It is chosen.

The soul gathers what it needs—wisdom, strength, compassion, forgiveness—so that when it steps once more into a new body, it carries the lessons of its past and the hopes of its future.

While December 11th marks the day he entered this world 37 years ago, I also honor the birth still to come: the life he is preparing for now, somewhere beyond my sight.

I imagine him moving through the spheres with steadiness and purpose.I imagine him greeted by guides and ancestors who help him understand the meaning of his 32 years here.I imagine him laying down the burdens he once carried, the way a traveler sheds a heavy coat before entering a warm home.

When the time is right, he will be ready. And when his next birthday arrives—wherever and whenever that may be—it will mark the beginning of another story.

A Birthday Prayer

Sam, may this day be a blessing in both worlds.

May you feel the pull of love from here. May your journey continue with courage, clarity, and grace. And when your next birth approaches, may it unfold with the support of all who walk beside you in the spiritual realms.

You were my son in this life.

You will be my son in every life we share.

And when the gate opens again—whether for you or for me—I trust we will find one another.

Happy birthday, my beloved son. Between the two gates… we will meet again.

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