Have We Met Before?

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“Don’t grieve.
Anything you lose
comes round in
another form.”
Rumi

Have We Met Before?

Ryan’s memories hinted, he was a movie extra named Marty Martyn

 

 

The nightly national news reporter caught my attention. For a moment, I thought I was watching the “Syfy Channel”. He was reporting about a boy named Ryan who told his mother that he believed he lived as someone else.

Five year old Ryan told his mom, he used to be somebody else — and that somebody was someone who kept company with old Hollywood stars, danced on Broadway, and worked in the movies, according to his dreams and memories.

Everyone is curious about what happens after we die. Some believe in a heaven and hell. Some believe in ghosts. Some believe when we die that’s it, we are gone for good. But, there are some who believe in reincarnation. For me, I need proof to convince me about most subjects, especially on the subject of death. However, the story about Ryan piqued my curiosity.

For more than a decade, Dr. Jim Tucker, associate professor of psychiatry and neurobehavioral sciences at the University of Virginia, studied the cases of children, usually between the ages of 2 and 6 years old, who say they remember a past life. In his book, Return to Life, Tucker details some of the more than 2,500 cases he has studied over the years, including Ryan — who claims he is the reincarnation of a man who died more than 50 years ago. That man, Marty Martyn, was a former movie extra who later became a powerful Hollywood agent.

The following is an excerpt from Tucker’s book and the chapter “He Came From Hollywood.”

We were able to piece together a picture of Marty Martyn’s life, and we could compare it to Ryan’s statements. In most of our cases, people have tried to see if a deceased person could be identified whose life matched the statements the child had made. Here, there was only one guy that Ryan could have been talking about, because he had pointed to him in a picture. We weren’t trying to see if there was anyone whose life matched Ryan’s statements; we were looking to see if Marty Martyn’s did.

What we found was that though Ryan was off on some of the details, a lot of what he said was correct for Marty Martyn. It had seemed unlikely that an extra with no lines would have danced on Broadway, had a big house with a swimming pool, and traveled the world on big boats. But Marty Martyn did.

Marty was born in Philadelphia in 1903. Ryan had talked a lot about a sister and also mentioned another one, and Marty had two sisters. His mother had curly brown hair, as Ryan as said. Ryan was right about dancing in New York, as Marty and one of his sisters went to New York to be dancers. He danced in various reviews on Broadway, and his sister became a well-known dancer there.

Marty then moved to Los Angeles, having a life in Hollywood as Ryan had described. He began as an extra as well as a dance director. He then became a Hollywood agent, not the secret agent kind but a talent agent. He set up the Marty Martyn Agency, where he had notable clients such as Glenn Ford. Ryan had talked about people changing their names with the agency, which would certainly be true for a talent agency. Marty had several connections to Rita Hayworth, and his daughter confirmed he probably did know her. He may well have interacted with Marilyn Monroe as well, as his wife’s family knew her.

Marty was a big sunbather, getting sunburns as Ryan had mentioned. Ryan said he used to take girlfriends to see the ocean, and there are pictures of Marty with girls on the beach. He enjoyed going there and watching surfers, which Ryan had said as well.

Marty was married four times. He became quite wealthy, and he and his last wife enjoyed an upscale lifestyle. Ryan said he had driven around Hollywood in a green car and that his wife drove a nice black car. Well, Marty’s wife didn’t actually do the driving, but they had a custom-made Rolls-Royce that was presumably a nice car. Ryan remembered an African American maid, and Marty and his wife had a number of them. Ryan said he owned a piano, and Marty had pianos in his house. The family lived in a fine house with a large swimming pool, as Ryan had described. Ryan said his address had Rock or Mount in it. And Marty Martyn’s last house, that fine home with the big swimming pool? It was located at 825 N. Roxbury.

So, when I meet someone for the very first time and have a deja vu moment, I always wonder, have we met before?

Shine On

Sunflower Farm

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“To live is so startling
it leaves but little room
for other occupations.”
Emily Dickinson

 

 

There’s a YouTube channel I follow and enjoy watching, the Sunflower Farm Creamery. The farm is located in Cumberland, Maine and broadcast on YouTube since January 2012. The farm is owned by husband and wife school teachers that raise Nigerian Dwarf Goats. The couple also make and sell goat cheese, fudge and caramel.

I began following them because I found it extremely relaxing to watch their beautiful old farm and the playful goats.

Recently, with the Coronavirus impacting even this farm, the owner began daily videos showing all her pregnant goats and has included some yoga and meditation to follow along. The 30+ momma goats are due to foal their kids in less than 2 weeks, so I watch daily to see not only their progress but look forward to the arrival of all the kids.

If you want to relax and enjoy a good daily laugh, I’d suggest watching Sunflower Farm.

Shine On

 

Prized Possession

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“Sometimes you have to laugh to keep from crying
or getting overly angry or to maintain control.”
Dennis Haysbert

 

Going Viral 2

 

 

It seems like Purell is everywhere these days, except at the stores. Believe it or not, Purell is struggling to keep up with all the orders across the world, and that’s even with the company working around the clock to fill the supply and the demand.

It’s hard to believe that not too long ago no one had ever heard of Purell. Since its creation in 1946 by husband and wife, Jerry and Goldie Lippman, from Akron, Ohio, Purell has been owned and produced by GOJO Industry, still a family owned business.

During World War II, Goldie worked at the Miller Tire Co. rubber factory and Jerry at the Goodyear Aircraft plant. Like all Miller Tire employees there, this husband and wife  often came home with sticky, difficult-to-remove graphite, tar, and carbon on their hands and clothes. Jerry and Goldie disliked all the products and cleaners used to clean their clothes, so they set out to find an effective cleaning product that could be used without water.

Goldie and Jerry worked with Professor Clarence Cook of Kent State University’s chemistry department to formulate a heavy-duty hand cleaner. They called it GOJO Hand Cleaner and sold it to rubber workers, who had sometimes used benzene and other noxious chemicals to clean their skin. After the war, the Lippman’s began marketing to automotive service facilities and GOJO was so successful, they quit their factory jobs and started GOJO.

Jerry, the never ending inventor came up with the first-ever portion-control dispenser, and was granted a patent in 1952. This creative invention served as the foundation for becoming the leader in heavy-duty hand cleaner across the country in the automotive after-market and industrial markets. You can thank Jerry for every soap dispenser on the wall today.

In the late 1980s, the company perfected an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that was much easier on the skin. Actually, Purell lost money for years on their hand sanitizer until 2002 when the CDC determined alcohol-based products were effective in sanitizing hands.

As we all know today, if you’re lucky enough to find a bottle of Purell, you’re one of the lucky ones. Who would’ve thought in the beginning of March 2020 a little plastic bottle of hand sanitizer would be a prized possession.

Shine On