A Visit with My Father It is Sunday morning, Father’s Day no less, and I am in that those last moments of a dream where reality and dreams meet. Of course, like a lot of you, I don’t really recognize this as a dream right away. I mean there are no weird buildings or spooky monsters lurking behind trees. But I will learn soon enough that this is a dream. I am setting in an old chair inside an old store that is oddly clean and sterile looking for an old store. And I would know. I grew up in my dad’s businesses with their wood floors that were impossible to sweep away all the dust. Lord knows he had me try often enough! But this store isn’t like that. It has all the characteristics of the old stores; the chest type soda coolers, shelving built in the store, a hoop of cheese, even a jar of pickled pig’s feet. Yet the store was clean and bright. Maybe the bright was from all the windows. That must be it. I hadn’t noticed the windows before, but there are several more windows than I recall dad’s stores ever having. And that is when I see him. I am looking out the window to the far right and I see my dad walking toward the front door, carrying what looked to be a baby. Now imagine my surprise at seeing my dad carrying a baby. Not because he didn’t love children, he most assuredly did. But because my dad had passed away 15 years ago, back in 1998. As I watched him advance into view of the next window, he was now carrying a small child, maybe 8 or 9 years old. The child was a handful, but he was making no effort to free himself of my dad’s arms. And then he comes through the front door. The door is made of glass like you may see on any commercial type building. It was thick and strong, top to bottom. And I saw my dad lean into the metal bar across the center of the door to push it open. That is when I noticed the small child had transformed to a young man. But he was not moving and appeared to be unconscious. I jumped up from my chair and quickly offered it as a place to ease the burden in my dad’s arms…he did now seem to be struggling to hold on. He eased the young man into the seat and that is when the first sign that I was dreaming occurred. As he released his hold on the young man, I realized I was once again setting in the chair. I looked around to find myself alone with my dad. Physically he appeared just as I remembered him from the days in the old country stores where he spent most of his life it seems, joking with everyone who walked through the doors, rarely meeting a stranger and always parting as friends. I stood up and approached dad. I must have had a look of surprise tempered with excitement on my face as I said, “Where have you been? Happy Father’s Day! I love you!!” He never spoke a word, but I could see in his eyes he was just as happy to see me. He reached out to me, placing a hand on either shoulder near my neck. As he looked at me and me at him, he seemed to change before my eyes. At first he became younger. I could recognize it as him from when I was a kid. But as he got younger still, it must have been from the time I was a baby, because I have no memory of him that young. Sure, I recognized it was him from photos, but I had no memories of my own. Then he began aging again, but more than aging, he was being transformed into something that I can only imagine and describe as “spiritual.” It was quite beautiful and the light emitted was quite bright. Suddenly the light rushed forward into my chest and I felt it. I can’t quite explain it, but it was warm, it was physical, but not external, and it was overwhelming. I knew it was supposed to be comforting and fulfilling, and it was. It was all that and more. And then I woke up. Now I am not one to set down and write a fanciful story. It is not in my nature to write down my feelings and experiences, I never have. So when I tell you that after I awoke, I still had the same feeling in my chest, you should know I am not making this up. I know I had a visit with my dad today. Did he come to me? Or did I go to him? I can’t say for certain. If I visited him in heaven, I know it would clear up some things about the cleanliness of the store. But more important than all those things, this was an experience that will stay with me the rest of my life. Cherish your dad. Spend time with him today and every day that you can for as long as you can. Forgive and forget, and then remember! Happy Father’s Day to all the Father’s!
Posted on: Sun, 16 Jun 2013 16:04:22 +0000
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