Keep it Real Wednesday
December 16, 2022
A gift before Christmas
As I sat down to write this week’s blog, I found a file that the software auto-saved from 2020. What I read was a flurry of thoughts that I typed out a few years ago and never shared.
So much emotion. Tears, sadness, joy, and gratitude all at once.
I am not sure what made me document these interactions or why I found them today but all I know is that it has given me comfort just when I needed it.
It is a beautiful gift to receive right before Christmas.
Here’s the document I found from 2020.
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One day last month Rosemary was feeling under the weather and decided to go to bed a little earlier than normal. Around 8p, I heard her call out to me and I hurried to her room. She asked me to sit on the side of the bed and said there was something she needed to tell me.
She told me about her dream.
She dreamt that someone squeezed her bicep while she was sleeping which caused her to roll over and see a lady standing by her bed.
In her dream, without uttering a single word, the lady asked if she was Rosemary. Without speaking, Rosemary told the lady that yes, she was Rosemary. Then again, without speaking, the lady said, “Your mother said you better hurry and come home”. Then the lady was gone.
A few days later, Rosemary told me of another dream that she had passed away in her sleep. She grabbed my hand and made a point of telling me she was proud of me because I handled the moment of her passing so calmly. She said that was one of her biggest worries for me.
She then added with a smirk, “I died with a smile on my face because I could finally see my mom and dad again after so many years”.
A tear formed in her eye as she smiled and said to me “they were a beautiful sight to see”.
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Why am I sharing this today?
I am telling you because it is “Keep it Real Wednesday” and experiences like this happen often with our loved ones and we sometimes dismiss it for what we can’t understand.
And I am SO grateful to have found this gem this morning.
Just when I am missing my mom during the Christmas Season, I have found such JOY in knowing she is sharing Christmas with HER MOM after so many years.
For those of you caring for others during their final season of life, you may just want to consider keeping a journal or simply hammering away at a keyboard with your thoughts and experiences.
There might be words you need to read later, just like I did today.
Until next week my friends,
Love, Jill
