Talia with her father Michael
On December 23rd, Talia’s plane crashed on the southern slope of Panama’s Baru Volcano. The crash killed Talia (age 13), her father Michael, and Edwin Lasso the pilot. Miraculously, Talia’s best friend survived.
HERE TALIA’S ANIMALS REMEMBER HER:

ZIPPY:“I just can’t believe she is gone. I know she is around and she is our angel, but it doesn’t feel any better knowing I won’t be able to snuggle with her anymore. She is my best friend. I talk to her, but I still miss her.
Talia was like you in the fact that she could hear us and she could help us through anything. She understood us (animals) in a way that no one else could. She had the most beautiful smile and her hands were always warm on my body. She used to tell me stories and tap her fingers on my legs. I loved how her and mom were such good friends. Sometimes when Talia would be upset, we would lie together and then she would want to go and be with our mom. Then we would all be together. Our family is close that way. It feels empty with out her. I keep thinking I am going to be able to sit on her lap. Sometimes I would make funny faces at her so she could smile. Did you know that Talia was really smart? I think a lot of kids admired her because she was creative and helpful. She always would lend a hand and she never made anyone feel stupid. That is important in a friend.
I wish I were bigger so I could keep our mom warm when she is lonely. Talia and her mom have the biggest hearts I have every witnessed. Our mom’s heart is so broken. I am scared for her. I am scared for us. How are we going to learn to live with out Talia? Tell our mom that she can use me to wipe her eyes. I don’t mind.”
GUNTHER:“I don’t know if it will ever get easier. I feel so lost. I keep having it go over and over in my head. Trying to understand exactly what happened and it just seems like a terrible nightmare. One time I had a nightmare and Talia woke me up. She rubbed my whole body and she told me not to be scared because she was going to stay with me and then she hummed a little song to me and told me about going to the barn and she said that there was a possum in the back yard and she asked me if I saw it. I hadn’t but she explained to me what it was and told me if I see it to be friends with it. That was just like Talia. She was a friend to everyone. It didn’t matter if you looked a little funny or if other kid’s or animals made fun of you. She saw you for who you were. She was kind to everyone. I wish that I could see her walk into the house. I can’t really smell her anymore. I would do anything to smell her again. I can’t imagine anything being worse than this. Doesn’t God love our family? Why would he take someone from us that means so much? Do you think God was jealous and wanted her up there? Maybe he needs her advice. She always had good advice. I told her once that I would get bored when no one was at home and she told me to notice all the different smells and noises and see if I could make out what they were. That game still keeps me busy.”
JUSTIN:“I am still angry. The anger just doesn’t go away. Do you know whose fault this is? Talia’s dad would make sure she came back, but he can’t do that because he is gone too. He loved seeing us here. He loved being apart of Talia’s life. He would stand next to me and watch Talia and Lala in the arena and think that he was so proud that he could give us all to her. I miss them. I am so happy I have Kim. I couldn’t survive with out her. Sometimes, I just want to lie down and not get up.
I miss the feel of Talia on my back. She was a gentle rider. I also felt like she was an angel on me. She rode me soft and she was always clear. We took care of each other. She always told me what she needed. One time she was nervous, because she had recently fallen off and she was scared about going fast around the corner and she asked me to slow down. She asked me so sweetly. Talia had the sweetest voice. I can still hear it. One thing I also loved about her was how she always saw the best in all of us. Not just the other riders, but all the horses as well. She believed in us all. Talia also had a way of knowing which horses where upset on a particular day. She would notice it and then tell me she was going to go talk to them. She would go and she would counsel them until they would feel better.
She was soft putting my bridal on and always listened to me if something hurt. She would kiss me softly on my muzzle and tell me I am her favorite. I believed it. I feel like I will never have a bond like that again. I am filled with sorrow.
LALA:“Talia healed me when she died. I was so scared that I would never feel safe that I would always feel like I was going to be abandoned. When Talia died I think her spirit flew through me and took that fear away. She was such an amazing girl. One time, I hurt my pastern and she got up on me and she knew right away it hurt. No one else could tell but she could. I felt better just knowing that she knew. She could also heal my body. Sometimes she would put her hands on me and my pain would go away. I think she got headaches because she was doing so much healing. I think that when she healed she took on the others pain. I don’t think she knew how to let everyone else’s pain run through her. She healed a lot of horses here. One of the horses had a terrible toothache and she went and stroked his mouth and his toothache went away. That is a true story. I could feel her energy as soon as she drove onto the ranch. I feel it all the time now. I think she is in the air here. She is protecting this place. I know it. I miss her, but I know she is here with us. I don’t think she is ever going to truly leave us. Do you believe that? You should. I have never been sure of anything, but I am sure that Talia will be in the air we breathe and in our souls forever. Maybe until we become one with her in heaven. She was a powerful person. I think she amazed even adults. I feel good knowing that her spirit is alive. I know it is.”
RED:“I want to say that I speak for all the horses here at the farm when I say that Talia not being here in body is a terrible loss. She was the one person who understood every single one of us. She could just look at us and know what we are thinking and feeling. She knew are pains instantly. It was fun having her here. We would play games and try to call her over. We would compete to see which one sent her the signal the strongest. We found out after time, that the one Talia would be drawn to was the horse that had something they needed to work out in their head or pain in their body. Talia was a big dreamer. She always had different projects in her mind and heart. She loved looking at the trees. At times, I think she wanted to compete in the woods. Sometimes she would stare out at the ocean and the birds and she would think that her dad was an amazing man to love her so much. It is strange not having Talia and her dad here. Their spirits are here, but I think they are more with their human families. I would do anything to see Talia’s smile again.”
TALIA & JUSTIN:

TALIA & LALA:


TALIA & HER DAD MICHAEL:


From our first meeting, I felt an immediate kin to Talia. Not only could Talia send messages to her animals, but also she had actual dialogues with them. These dialogues helped the animals through their issues, made them laugh, gave them ideas, and made them feel safe. She could tell just by looking at them what was emotionally wrong or if they had any pain in their body. She was a healer who took their pain away with her hands. She had a smile that could lift anyone’s spirit and instinctually offered pure friendship.
I was impressed by Talia and Kim’s relationship. I could tell that they were not just mother and daughter that they were also best friends. It was evident in the way they communicated and the way Kim supported Talia’s endeavors that they had mutual respect for one another. It was enduring to be around them. When I left them, I felt blessed that my work brings me to such wonderful people.
It is hard not to wonder why God had to take such a beautiful life. It seems that our world would have benefited greatly by Talia’s gifts and her understanding of the natural world. I have the sense that Talia’s presence made many feel loved, accepted, healed and at peace. Perhaps she can touch more lives in spirit. I truly feel that in time, when Talia’s friends and family miss her or find themselves lost, her spirit and her legacy will fill them with love and direction. For if we truly remember who Talia was we could in turn become better people.
LOVE & BLESSINGS TO TALIA’S FAMILY & FRIENDS

Update 12/14/11

My good friend has just released her extraordinary book, “Hummingbirds Don’t Fly In The Rain” .

Kim lost her daughter Talia Klein in a plane crash December 23, 2007.  This book is about her story and her connection with Talia before and after the crash.  It is a must read.  Below is an article she has written for a woman’s magazine. Please enjoy it here:

 

For many people, the arrival of the holiday season brings with it a mixed bag of emotions: excited, anticipatory, joyous and hopeful feelings, as well as feelings of dread, loneliness, and the wishful thought that the time period between Halloween and New Year’s would just disappear. For whatever reason, everyone deals with the holidays his or her own way. But having a loved one that has passed away throws an entirely new set of emotions into the already crowded mix. Especially when that loved one is your child.

During the holiday season it is more common than not to finish a conversation or a visit with a statement like, Have a great holiday, or Merry Christmas, or Happy Hanukkah! Those words flow naturally from person to person, usually without a thought to what they actually mean. But when the person on the receiving end of those words is someone that has lost a loved one, they can set off a whole set of feelings and emotions that for most of the year have been “under control.”

It is even more difficult if your loved one actually passed away during the holidays—which is what happened to me.

It was December 23, 2007 when I got the call no one ever wants to get. The following excerpt from my book Hummingbirds Don’t Fly In the Rain describes what happened when the phone rang:

I picked up the phone; it was Bob Klein, my ex-husband Michael’s father.

“Kim, something terrible has happened. The plane with Michael and Frankie—“

My mouth went dry. “What about Talia? Where’s Talia?” I pleaded, not understanding why he hadn’t mentioned my daughter—his granddaughter—only her friend, Francesca Lewis.

“Talia was with Michael and Frankie, but their plane never landed in Volcan. It’s missing.”

My heart stopped. My brain stopped. I stared into space with the phone at my ear, unable to speak….

What started as a regular holiday season for me ended up being the worst time of my life. After nearly three days of not knowing where my daughter’s plane was and whether or not she was alive, I found out, on Christmas Day, that she had in fact, died. Now not only had the worst thing that could ever happen to me happened, it had happened during the holidays! I would forever have to deal with the pain of losing my daughter, the memory even more vivid every year at the anniversary of her death—the same time the world was celebrating!

I had no idea how I was going to be able to go on, let alone deal with the holidays, every year! But something happened to heal me. To help me get through the holidays. And every other day of the year. It was my daughter.

Another excerpt from Hummingbirds describes what happened :

“…. Since the very moment I realized Talia was “dead,” I began receiving many messages from her through various sources, all of which have built on one other and been confirmed by one other. When looked at both alone and as a whole, they have proven to me that not only is Talia actually telling people the messages they relay to me, but, beyond that, those messages are in every way totally, completely, and irrevocably Talia. I know, deeper in my heart and soul than I can even describe, that Talia is communicating to me and, most important, that she is not “dead,” but more alive and amazing now than she was with me here on earth . . . . From the moment I really understood she was gone, I went from not believing in life after death to absolutely believing in it. I knew that the messages Talia was sending me from beyond were from her, and so very real.”

My daughter continued to send me messages, through Laura and and another medium, a friend called “G,” and as time went on her messages grew in length, in depth and in meaning. The messages from her went from loving messages meant for me alone, to more detailed messages of love, joy, the meaning of life, and statements that there is no death, meant for anyone and everyone who wished to read them. In fact, she wanted her conversations to be made available to everyone, so they have been put together in another book, called, The Universe Speaks: A Heavenly Dialogue.

So, what if you did not have to keep your feelings of loss and sadness “under control,” at all? What if you no longer had those feelings? What if your feelings were those of love, gratitude, happiness and hope? What if every time you heard your loved one’s name you smiled, you laughed, and the tears that began to stream from your eyes were not tears of sadness but tears of joy for them, not about them?  This is possible.

When you lose a loved one, a hole is left in your heart. That hole can either stay empty, bringing you sadness, or you can fill it with the knowledge that your loved one is not dead as we know it, but very much alive and living a life much more grand and beautiful than the one here, on earth in the body. That is what happened to me. That is what can happen to you.

Copyright Kimberly Klein 2011

You can order Kim’s book on Amazon or on her website:  KimberlyKlein.com