gratitude
Gratitude
Elizabeth Ryba ©2010
The dream world offers not only a playground for the subconscious to work out its daily grind; but also a tethering platform for those that are in between this world and the next.
In many dreams, I had seen loved ones who had passed into Spirit; even received premonitory messages. However, the dream of my husband David’s former wife, and her father, was the first where a Spirit came to announce their time to pass was drawing near.
The dream was quick. I saw a man standing next to a cabin on a wooded embankment; he waved and welcomed me towards him. I step, however am jarred by the quickly changing image of his daughter, David’s former wife, sobbing desperately.
Without knowing what these people look like, or even knowing them personally – I woke up knowing her father was about to pass. In the absence of spoken words from the dream, I knew he would go within three days.
An unnerving dream in many regards. Was it, “just a dream”, or was this really something that was coming to pass? And, of all Spirits, why that of my husband’s former in-laws to be the first to share this message? However, I soon learned, it wasn’t mine to question. I knew that a daughter was about to lose her father and a Spirit was about to be freed from his physical journey. I’ve lost my father, and many others in this journey. I’ve also seen them come back in my dreams where, it seems, they are free from any pain and suffering they once endured.
I shared the dream with David before he left for work that morning. We both agreed it was something to write in the dream journal and reflect on. However, within only a few hours the dream had come to life. His ex-wife called and said her father was hospitalized over the last night and was in serious condition. She noted that he kept asking for David to come see him. The shock of what happened that morning did not sink in for a few days yet.
We visited him in the hospital and he was overwhelmed with gratitude that we came.
Two nights later, I woke from a dream and knew then, that he was passing into Spirit. I stood in front of the cabin again and saw the man. It was a safe place for him. A small cat curled about the doorway where he waved me in. Inside, it was small, but a warm and cozy piece of Heaven. The air was heavy with the smells of homemade stews and soups. A rack of pots and pans hung overhead. He brought down a bowl, scooped it into a pot brewing on the open flame and handed to me.
He smiled generously and simply said, “thank you for seeing me.”
He passed later on that day. I learned afterwards, that there were many similarities between this man and my own father. They both were fathers who had a trying physical existence. Both had a love of cooking, coupled by a love of drinking. In nearly parallel circumstances, they both spent their ending years facing numerous amputations of their extremities.
However, it was a story of this man’s youth that provides for me, unquestionably the essence of the evolution of our Spirit from this lifetime to the next. I learned that while growing up in France during World War II, this young man had hidden for quite sometime in a cabin in some remote forest in the countryside of France. And yes, he told stories of a cat that stayed with him that helped keep him warm on cold winter nights.
Perhaps the similarities between her father and mine provided the door opening in my dreams for him to come through. Since that time, many who are about to pass show themselves in dreams just before they go. I am thankful for their presence; it is treasure to see their Spirit as it begins to tether between here and there. I offer to them my prayers for a little added energy to ride on as they make their way to what comes next.
Perhaps all we need is a little acknowledgement; recognition that we still remain after the physical journey ends. Remembering those who came before, knowing they continue still.
Thank you…for showing me that I can see.