\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cThe slave cemetery in back\u201d, I whispered.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do you know?\u201d Chuck slowed the car down trying to peek around the white ruins.<\/p>\n
A look was all that needed to explain it.<\/p>\n
The sun was quickly setting over the marshy lake and we hoped to check in with a bit of daylight to explore the grounds.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow watch yourself along the pathway by the lake, there are gators. The small ones are more like puppies and are just curious,\u201d the caretaker drawled. \u201cThe larger ones, well don\u2019t mess with \u2018em.\u201d<\/p>\n
As if on cue a large burp came from the nearby water.<\/p>\n
The caretaker took us to our rooms housed in the North Guest House, turning the lanterns on to light our way. The kids took the one room with two beds while Chuck and I took the room across the hall with the king size bed, both decorated in white French toile linens.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t like your room, mom,\u201d Micaela confessed. \u201cThere\u2019s something about it that feels\u2026heavy.\u201d<\/p>\n
I took a few deep breathes and psychically checked out both rooms only to get an all clear from my guides.<\/p>\n
Chuck and I unpacked as the kids explored,\u00a0flashlights in hand. It wasn\u2019t long before they ventured back and we decided we were more hungry than curious and so we trekked back down the long path to the main road to hunt for pizza.<\/p>\n
A full belly, a hot shower and a comfortable bed was all too convincing to call it an early night. It couldn\u2019t have been ten minutes after shutting my eyes when Jolly showed up for a visit.\u00a0He wasn\u2019t the least bit surprised that I could see him or that I was even there. It was as if he was even expecting us. <\/span><\/p>\n\u201cCan I help you cross over? Is there something you need my help on?\u201d I asked him, stuttering a bit. <\/span><\/p>\n\u201cNo, Ma\u2019am.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nI looked at him, confused. Jolly threw his head back and laughed the deepest laugh I\u2019d ever heard. I looked over at my husband who incredibly was still sleeping soundly. \u201cDid you work here?\u201d I asked, already knowing the answer, but I wasn\u2019t quite sure what was happening. And I was tired and really just wanted to get to the bottom of the visit. <\/span><\/p>\n\u201cI did, Ma\u2019am. I was the leader here for many, many years. This was my home.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nI sat up on my pillow and looked at him. \u201cHome? You were enslaved, right? Was it horrible?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cIt was all I knew. All we knew. I hold no ill regrets.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cSo why are you still here?\u201d I asked, still confused. <\/span><\/p>\n\u201cBecause it\u2019s home and I\u2019m still the caretaker,\u201d Jolly simply explained. <\/span><\/p>\n\u201cIsn\u2019t it time to find peace?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cI\u2019m at peace, but I\u2019m afraid that the world isn\u2019t\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cWhat about justice? What about that?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cSeeking justice creates more sin. Peace creates more peace.\u201d<\/p>\n
I sighed and agreed. I realized he was speaking of something completely different than I was, but it seemed to be eerily relate to what was happening in current news.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cPeace,\u201d Jolly began. \u201cPeace happens when you forgive, whether deserved or not. Most of all peace happens when you realize you deserve peace.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nJolly and I spoke for some time, along with another lady he introduced as Franny. The next morning my family and I went to the slave cemetery and paid our respects. Jolly simply nodded a hello to me, with a big jolly smile on his face in thanks.<\/span><\/p>\nAs my family and I boarded an airplane for home, the Baltimore riots aired on every television set. I couldn\u2019t help but think that if someone who was enslaved for decades could go into the afterlife with peace, well, I could only hope.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cEvery experience, no matter how bad it seems, holds within it a blessing of some kind. The goal is to find it\u201d<\/p>\n
Buddha<\/p>\n
Believe,<\/p>\n
Kristy Robinett<\/p>\n
www.kristyrobinett.com<\/p>\n
![\"mansfieldplantation\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/222\/2015\/04\/mansfieldplantation-1024x1024.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cYou can call me Jolly,\u201d the spirit smiled brightly at me from the side of the bed, sitting on the windowsill that looked over the sprawling green fields. It had only been a few hours before that we drove what felt like five miles up the dirt path to the plantation house. The moss oak […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1109,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[543,279,544,545],"class_list":["post-1264","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-baltimore","tag-mansfield","tag-peace","tag-slaves"],"yoast_head":"\n
Peace Begins With Us<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"\u201cYou can call me Jolly,\u201d the spirit smiled brightly at me from the side of the bed, sitting on the windowsill that looked over the sprawling green fields.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/ahappymedium\/2015\/04\/peacebeginswithus\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Peace Begins With Us\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cYou can call me Jolly,\u201d the spirit smiled brightly at me from the side of the bed, sitting on the windowsill that looked over the sprawling green fields.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/ahappymedium\/2015\/04\/peacebeginswithus\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"A Happy Medium\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-04-28T02:19:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/ahappymedium\/files\/2015\/04\/befree.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kristy Robinett\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kristy Robinett\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/ahappymedium\/2015\/04\/peacebeginswithus\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/ahappymedium\/2015\/04\/peacebeginswithus\/\",\"name\":\"Peace Begins With Us\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/ahappymedium\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-04-28T02:19:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-04-28T02:19:33+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/ahappymedium\/#\/schema\/person\/35a8380c5f8a9c8618f19d20c16001c0\"},\"description\":\"\u201cYou can call me Jolly,\u201d the spirit smiled brightly at me from the side of the bed, sitting on the windowsill that looked over the sprawling green fields.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/ahappymedium\/2015\/04\/peacebeginswithus\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/ahappymedium\/2015\/04\/peacebeginswithus\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/ahappymedium\/2015\/04\/peacebeginswithus\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/ahappymedium\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Peace Begins With Us\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/ahappymedium\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/ahappymedium\/\",\"name\":\"A Happy Medium\",\"description\":\"Practical Advice for a Positive Life\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/ahappymedium\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/ahappymedium\/#\/schema\/person\/35a8380c5f8a9c8618f19d20c16001c0\",\"name\":\"Kristy Robinett\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/ahappymedium\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/22fd1a90a18df0ad62373d39e9f889fb?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/22fd1a90a18df0ad62373d39e9f889fb?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Kristy Robinett\"},\"description\":\"Kristy Robinett is a psychic medium and author who began seeing spirits at the age of three. 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<\/a>\u201cYou can call me Jolly,\u201d the spirit smiled brightly at me from the side of the bed, sitting on the windowsill that looked over the sprawling green fields.<\/p>\n