By Dondi Dahlin

When I first heard about Christina Del Piero’s $50,000 donation to the Energy Medicine Institute, I burst out crying. You see, Christina had no money, and I mean none. She barely scraped by financially, and her family was detached from her for reasons I do not know.  She lived in a tiny 19th century cabin in Vermont that I believe she inherited. 

I first met Christina about 20 years ago when she joined a belly dancing class that my sister Titanya and I taught at the Omega Institute. The three of us stayed in touch through the years, and in that time I observed Christina falling in love with Eden Energy Medicine. 

She did her Daily Energy Routine faithfully every day and took many of the Eden Method classes online. I remember there was this one time when I found out that Christina could barely afford groceries. So I asked that we refund her money for a weekend class she had just purchased from us. She burst into tears when she saw the amount refunded on her credit card and told me that she never knew a company would do something like this.

Christina was extremely unhappy during the pandemic years. She loved people, and being in lockdown, all alone in her cabin for extended periods, drained her energy. She yearned for a hug, a handshake, or a friendly hello.  Just before the pandemic, Christina was offered a position as a pastor at the United Church of Christ in Ashland, Oregon (she was a Reverend), and she regretted turning it down. She knew she would have been much happier in Oregon because Vermont had some of the toughest restrictions during the lockdown.

Last summer, when Christina needed to be in the hospital, she called me and said she didn’t want to stay in Vermont.  She wanted to go West. She had several friends who would take her in, but she had no transportation and wasn’t strong enough to fly. I asked my partner Roger if he would pick her up and drive her and of course, he said yes. I spoke to her several times when she was in the hospital, and I was deeply saddened when I received a phone call from her friend who told me she was gone.

Over the last few years, Christina said she had some money coming in.  She talked about it often and said that when she received it, she would like to donate some to Eden Energy Medicine.  She wanted to repay what we had done for her and express her gratitude for Mom’s work, which she adored.  She knew that Eden Energy Medicine kept her going, especially during the pandemic, physically, and emotionally. I never expected the money, nor did I think about it much.

I don’t know where Christina’s $50,000 came from, but maybe it was that money she talked about. I think it’s so beautiful that she thought of Eden Energy Medicine. She didn’t even know our staff, but she loved everything she learned. She also enjoyed being a part of the Eden Energy Medicine Facebook community on Facebook. It helped her feel less alone.

Christina used to say she didn’t fear death, and she also told me that sunflowers were her sign -- she wanted people to know that when they saw sunflowers, she was around. When I see sunflowers now, I like to take a moment to talk to her and thank her for the money she gave so generously -- an extra special gift because she had so little to give. I know that if she had that $50,000 when she was alive, it would have changed her life in many ways.

Christina was smart, kind, loving, and sweetly opinionated. She embraced everyone around her. She was always concerned for my son Tiernan and Titanya’s son Sequoia. She never failed to ask about them and the whole family even though she really only knew me, Roger, and Titanya. 

I feel so blessed and grateful to have known Christina. She’s a rare and beautiful soul, and her loving heart will continue to change lives even after she’s gone. Thank you so much, dear Christina. I know there are endless fields of sunflowers where you are now.

To learn more and contribute to the Energy Medicine Institute, please click here