I called her office phone, expecting to hear the same message that’s been on her machine since I met her in 2003, “you have reached the offices of Francine Tuft Peterson, Feng Shui Practitioner. If you’d like to leave a message please do so at the beep. Good day and good fortune.”
But instead I heard, “I’m sorry this number has been disconnected.”
So I called the house phone, the number I only called when she asked me to. I got the same message, “I’m sorry this number has been disconnected”. My heart sank.
Then I called her cell phone, the number she had been using more frequently in the last few years. It rang (!) but then I heard, ”I’m sorry the voicemail box hasn’t been set up for this number, goodbye.”
I sat very still and felt quiet inside. This could only mean one thing, Francine had passed away.
But I didn’t want to jump to conclusions or believe she was gone. So just in case mercury was retrograde and signals got crossed, with hope I repeated the same process the next day, only to get the same response.
Now my heart sank even deeper with the inner knowing that Francine was gone. I contacted our mutual Feng Shui teacher, Jetsun Ma, Master teacher Ho Lynn, and learned that Francine passed away peacefully on Mother’s Day.
Francine Tuft Peterson of Kneeland, California was my first Feng Shui teacher.
She’s the one who I think about every time I practice or teach Feng Shui because I learned it from her first. I often hear her voice in my head.
The first time I heard about Francine was around 20 years ago when I complimented my Acupuncturist on her office. Marlene told me she worked with a Feng Shui practitioner who ‘Feng Shui’d’ her office. Marlene’s office was striking. It was peaceful, beautiful and it definitely played a role in the healing process. At the time, I had no inkling that her Feng Shui practitioner would play a pivotal role in my life.
Not to long before then, I had identified that being a Feng Shui practitioner was my dream job. The practice of Feng Shui felt like a coming home for my highly sensitive self. I was seriously considering training in this ancient art and was looking into the options. But fears and doubts kept me indecisive. Did people really do this?
Then I had a dream about the Feng Shui practitioner who ‘Feng Shui’d’ Marlene’s Acupuncture office. I dreamt she was my teacher. I didn’t know her name or if she even took students, but the dream calmed my indecisiveness and gave me clarity. I got her number and called to ask.
Francine was hesitant, she had just decided she was no longer taking on students. That part of her life was over. But something about my request perked her ears up and she said, “we need to Feng Shui your house first and that will sort out the karma of whether or not I’m meant to be your teacher”. I agreed.
That Feng Shui consultation with Francine produced profound movement in my life.
It turned the tide in ways I couldn’t have imagined. Francine and I hit if off fabulously and it was clear we had a strong karmic connection. She loved teaching so much that she couldn’t resist taking me on as her student. Teaching again inspired her to take on more students and her passion for teaching continued.
The majority of my training with Francine was in a one-on-one apprenticeship. Most of our classes took place at her home and some in her car-either driving around town or on the way to see clients. After moving out of the area I stayed in touch with Francine and we continued my training by phone.
Francine’s home was her classroom, literally an example of Feng Shui in action. I have every square inch of her home and property etched in my mind. The house and property itself had many Feng Shui issues but it gave her the opportunity to express her amazing creativity and Feng Shui expertise. She transformed ‘not so auspicious Feng Shui’ into ‘very auspicious Feng Shui’. Her home and gardens were her haven and a beautiful reflection of her work and her elegant, creative spirit.
Francine had a huge heart.
She was passionate about beauty, creativity, Feng Shui and helping her clients. She was very intuitive and creative in her application of Feng Shui and was regarded as an excellent Feng Shui Practitioner and teacher.
A fabulous storyteller with a great sense of humor, I tried to encourage her to write a book of her amazing Feng Shui stories but she preferred to practice and teach. She was humble and not interested in promoting herself. Francine also had a long and successful career as an opera director which gave her a unique perspective in her work as a Feng Shui Practitioner
I’m grateful too Francine for being my Feng Shui teacher. I’m grateful that she sent me to work with two of her beloved teachers, first to study with Carol Bridges, founder of the Nine Harmonies School of Feng Shui, and then to work with Jetsun Ma, Master Teacher Ho Lynn, founder of the Yuan Yuan Educational Foundation. Francine’s big heart and spirit live on in her work and in all whom she touched.
