On Easter Sunday my friend Stacy showed up at my house dressed in a light pink sweat suit. The first words out of my mouth were “Oh my, it is Crystal the pink bunny.” Stacy had been moving and it was the only thing she could find to wear that morning and it was very appropriate for the holiday. Crystal the pink bunny has been a friend for 18 years. She is the imaginary friend of my younger daughter Alexandra.

Alexandra walked and talked very early and hated being a baby. Her body just didn’t do what her brain already knew how to do. It made her very mad and she screamed hours a day in frustration. She was only two when she started to talk about Crystal the pink bunny. A “Harvey” like giant friend who went with us everywhere. I had to drive around the block and open the van door to take Crystal with us when we went to school. Even Alexandra’s preschool teachers were friends with Crystal.

When Alexandra was about nine my friend Rachael, a Medium, came to visit for the first time. Earlier that day my daughters had been trying to work out the music to The Pink Panther, they had hand written it on musical staff paper and it was on the music stand in the living room. When Rachael saw the music she knew that it was a sign from Russell, the young son of her friend Gwen

Russell had passed away many years before but was such a strong spirit that he communicated easily through Mediums and was always sending signs of his presence. Russell’s symbol is the Pink Panther and his latest communication was there on my music stand.

That evening as I learned more about Russell I realized that Crystal the Pink Bunny wasn’t an imaginary friend after all but Russell communicating with Alexandra. At two she was much too young to know about the Pink Panther so she thought he was a pink bunny and I can see how “Russell” could sound like “Crystal” to her.

After meeting Rachael, Alexandra was able to understand what she saw and heard and no longer crawled in bed with me every night. We had many interesting conversations about what she saw and I was careful to protect her from places and situations that might frighten her. As she got older she chose to put away that side of her and just be a very normal teenager. She still has razor sharp intuition and I’ve always encourage her to use that skill. Mediumship will come back when she wants because it is her choice, not an outside force, closing those channels for the time being.

On our 2005 trip to England Alexandra met Russell’s parents Gwen and Alfie and they shared stories. Gwen wrote a book about her experiences and it is a beautiful story. Russell still shows up occasionally, not as a pink bunny but as the Pink Panther. A few months ago I was a bit sad and I went off to a concert to cheer myself up, the first thing the performer talked about was how his next selection was featured in a Pink Panther movie, I knew that was Russell with a big pink hug for me.

Russell by Gwen Byrne