Sunday, September 30, 2012

The Shelving of A Book

Driving home today from my uncle's funeral, several things crossed my mind. The most stand out thought was the book on that side of the family is finished. Each chapter one by one came to a conclusion as we lost each and every family member over the past years. The people and stories which spun the web of fibers around my life have one by one left this world. It was a moment I knew regretfully would one day come, yet I never really pictured this day in my mind. How do you visualize a day like today when it is unimaginable to comprehend the fact that the family on my dad's side have all left, and you are still here? It is unsettling.

For the people who are close to me, they know I avoid funerals at all cost. I don't handle them well, I am a blubbering mess. I don't even have to have known the person well, for me to have a hard time with the funeral. It is something that I can't control and can not help. When it is family.....well, it is the most difficult thing to try and handle and control oneself that I know of. Today was different. Today was like none other. Since I can not vocalize the why of that, I am going to record it here.

My uncle passed away Thursday at 3:18pm. I know he was ready, and I know he had suffered many years without my aunt. My heart was heavy and I have carried a huge weight in my heart through the years over something he had shared with me about the moments before my aunt's passing. These are things I have a hard time letting go of. These types of things stay with me and don't seem to leave and I carry them with me.

Thursday night I had a dream. I have only had one other dream like it in my life and it was when I was eleven years old. It was real. As real as the breath I take and it is hard to explain just how different this was from what you would call a normal dream. The place in this dream was like none other I have ever seen. It was a normal scene that you might imagine seeing in the back roads of rural America, but yet I think you could search forever and never find a place like it.


There was no beginning or end of this dream.....more like a screen shot with darkened edges, as if looking through a lenses of a camera from on top of a hill. It was like I was there, but removed from it at the same time.  It could have lasted a spit second, or a few minutes, I don't know. 

The scene was of a golden field which was all you could see across the horizon up to the sky. Everything had a light yellowish tint and the breeze was blowing the tassels of the crops in this forever field. In the distance was a tractor. It was so far away that it was just a speck in the field. 

There also was a split rail fence closest to me. It was as if my eyes scanned the scene and at that fence was where my eyes rested. I saw my Aunt and Uncle standing together with their backs to me. Their arms around each other gazing out unto the field. For an instant, and only an instant I felt that breeze, which was unlike anything I can describe. It was unlike any breeze I have ever felt before. At that moment, a peace washed over me and just that quick, it was over. When I woke up the next morning, I remembered every detail about it and the great sorrow was replaced with knowing my aunt and uncle are together again on the other side. It was a feeling that all was right and as it was supposed to me.  It was a gift. One I will treasure all the rest of my days.

Today, even if I could not share with anyone what had happened, I carried the knowledge in my heart that all was right again and as it should be for my family members. I was able to hold on to that dream and knew without a shadow of a doubt my uncle was far removed from the shell that lay in the casket. He was with the love of his life and had started the forever journey they were destined for all the days of their lives. I was sad for my loss, but was able to cope far better than I could have imagined.

As we drove home and I looked out the window at the landscape that was a big part of my childhood memories, I saw. I visually saw the binders of the book which formed the story of my life snap shut. It was finished. And as the dust settled from the warn pages I knew it was shelved in the walls of my heart, never to be read again.



Footnote:
(1) The photo was found online, it represents the field in my dreams, but is in no way as magnificent as what I saw. Everything I experienced was much grander.
(2) I am sure some will read this and think I am nuts. I am sure some family will read it and say to themselves I have lost it. But the fact is, that is farthest from the truth. I was given a gift. That, I believe. And I am thankful I am receptive enough to allow such gifts to happen in my life.
(3) Sometimes you have to believe in something that goes against all logic.
(4) I wanted to record this in a place where if I need to, I can reread what I felt and experienced. Maybe these words will mean something to someone one day other than myself.

10 comments:

  1. What an amazing hope to hold onto. I am wiping tears as I type this. I have seen on television people who have been visited in their dreams by loved ones. But they always describe them as nothing you could compare it to in real life. I know it was a gift. What a raw emotion and experience to share. Hugs to you. Thanks for letting us experience it too from your eyes.

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  2. .. I don't think you're nuts!

    .. I think you wrote your experience beautifully. That is how I would like to see my parents someday when it is their time to move on from here. Together and peaceful.

    .. Death is a common thing in my life as I work for a funeral home and I often view the elderly passing on as a great loss to our lives, even ones I never knew. Each funeral I work is bittersweet knowing that all their amazing stories are gone with them just like that. As you said the shelving of a book so to speak.


    ..*hugs* I am a bit behind on reading blogs lately and I am very sorry to read of the passing of your Uncle.

    XoXo's,
    Sarah & the Weens
    http://doxiejibberish.blogspot.com/

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  3. Suzanne, what a wonderful gift you have received! After my father died very suddenly, I saw him in a dream and after that I felt total peace about his passing. My sister was my mom's caretaker and the night that my mom died, my sister awoke to see Mom sitting at the end of her bed, and in an instant she was gone. When I called my sister to tell her Mom was gone, she said "I know. She came to see me when she died." I feel like God gave my Mom the chance to say goodbye to my sister. You aren't crazy....you are blessed!

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  4. I am very sorry for your loss. The Lord speaks to us through dreams sometimes and I believe He was giving you comfort. Thank you for sharing a part of yourself with us.

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  5. So sorry for the loss of your uncle. And nope, I don't think you're nuts - I've had a few similar experiences myself. I think that it just proves that there is someone/something bigger than us out there.

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  6. Very eloquently written. You have a writing gift no matter if it is something funny, serious or heart wrenching. You draw me in and I have to read. Hugs to you during this time.

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  7. Suzanne what a wonderful gift you were given. I too have had a dream where I 'knew' my Dad was happy after he was gone. God is there for us and helps us bear the unbearable through his gifts....sometimes it's a dream.
    hugs, Linda

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  8. The day you learned to write, you were gifted. It is a shame you have not been able to utilize it all these years in a bigger way. You definitely are at your best when it comes to writing. We all have a page in the book of life. We just never know when it will be full.

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  9. Oh dear heart, what a beautiful post! Hugs and love to you on your loss. You are far from nuts - you are able to access parts of your brain that others never experience. Thank you for sharing this.

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  10. Your dream is amazing! I had a strange dream the year my sis Pat, my mom and our dog passed away! It was about the dog! But the peace I felt afterwards has gotten me thru many tough times! I too stray away from funerals! It is always tough to lose a loved one though. I am sorry for the loss but I do understand how you feel. You write so beautifully. Good to be here with you.

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Sometimes someone says something really small, and it's like it fits into this empty space in your heart!

Thank you for stopping by and leaving your thoughts here, they really mean a lot to me!

Suzanne

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