Fire in the Soul

I had never given reincarnation much thought, nor had I ever seen a psychic, but both of these elements came together one Halloween night. That one night was to change my outlook on life and my way of thinking forever. That evening started a progression of puzzle pieces floating into place. As each piece gently touched down, it added to a picture, a portrait that reinforced a strong case for reincarnation. My story weaves a tapestry of mystery and history, of love and the horrors of warfare. The journey was and still is a wondrous one, sometimes funny but at other times sad and physically painful. I force my beliefs on no one. I only ask that the readers open their minds to their own experiences, to take a good look at the world around them. As for me, I have no choice but to believe in reincarnation. I lived the story, and every word is true.

Join me on an amazing journey through the eyes of two people: one a Georgian, the other a Connecticut Yankee. Similarities between the two go far beyond coincidence. They think alike, look alike, and even share facial scars. Their lives are so intertwined that they appear to be one. Half of this equation, Jeffrey J. Keene, a retired Assistant Fire Chief from affluent Westport, Connecticut. The other half, John B. Gordon, Confederate General, Army of Northern Virginia, died January 9, 1904.

I would be lead into a 10-year travel odyssey that included the battlefields of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and Georgia as well as the library of Congress. Gathering information from official records, wartime reports and even love letters, I uncovered many parallels between my own life and that of General Gordon. Unexpectedly a trip to the emergency room on my thirtieth birthday with facial pain that mimicked a wound General Gordon received 115 years before at the battle of Antietam when he was thirty years of age. My hospital visit was more than a decade before I first heard his name.

September 11, 2001 would start a new chapter in my life, literarily. In 2007, I was summoned to an online Reincarnation Forum dedicated to Children's past lives. I was called in to aid in verifying a child's information because of my knowledge of Fire Department operations and equipment. In less than a week, from the information given to me by the mother, on and off the forum, I discovered the boy was relating a lifetime of a New York City firefighter who perished in the events of September 11, 2001. After hearing his story, I call the young boy, The Phoenix.