I had a dream about Great Grandma last night. Great Grandma is my husband’s grandmother, and my children’s great grandmother. I call her “Great Grandma” because that’s what my kids call her (as a woman might refer to her own mother as “grandma” when speaking to her kids). Great Grandma passed away earlier this year, and I miss her terribly. In my life, there have been very few people who have amazed me with their strength and their love. They are my mother, my husband, my uncle, and Great Grandma.
In my dream, I never said a word. We were alone in a room and she knew something was wrong. She told me not to give up. (In “real life,” I easily have up to 1000 hours of work to do before 3 projects are “finished.”) She told me (in that kind & raspy voice of hers) that I need to keep going, that things will get better, and that she and I will both “be so heppy when it’s finished.” (That’s not a typo…that’s how she said “happy.”) Then I woke up prematurely, and the dream ended abruptly. I went back to sleep several times, just trying to get back to the dream, so I could see her again, and get her advice. I never got there, and got out of bed feeling incredibly sad.
When I logged on to my computer this morning, there were several emails waiting for me. For some reason, I decided to read Rachel’s first. (Rachel is an pen-pal friend of mine with whom I have exchanged emails for over 8 years… but we have never met.) Rachel sent me a PowerPoint presentation entitled “Life.” The *very first* slide on it said, “In life there are moments when you miss someone so much that you wish you could grab them out of your dreams and hug them tight.” I started bawling as soon as I read that (and am still crying as I “speak”).
Instead of reading anymore email on that account, I decided to check my email accts associated with the projects I’m working on, and the first email there was from a woman in Germany. She is the designer for the wp template I decided to use for one of my sites. The problem, however, was that when I tried using it (5 days ago), it was all written in German. Although the template itself was perfect (PERFECT) for the project, all of the words that I wanted in english were in German… and I don’t know ANY german, so it was impossible for me to know what to translate into what. I found a way to contact her, and wrote to her on a whim. Although her site was entirely in German, I wrote to her in English. (“Dear Alice… I love your template and think it’s perfect for my needs. However, it’s in German. I realize it is a lot to ask, but would it be at all possible for you to translate the CSS to english for me?”) When I sent it, I knew I wouldn’t hear from her, because 1) it was a free template to begin with and 2) she didn’t know me. I scrapped the project I was working on, out of frustration. I’d forgotten that I’d written to her. Then there it was this morning. Right after Great Grandma told me that things will get better. An email from Alice in Germany, whom I have never met:
| Hello Cyn,first, my english is verry bad!Here the translated version.I hope everything is right and it works …Kind regards,Alice |
I have never believed in coincidences, and probably never will. Somehow, the tumblers in the great cosmic combo lock aligned just right over the last 6 hours. Great Grandma set the ball rolling. Maybe she used the other two virtual strangers to remind me of what she’d said, my goals, and my abilities… and to give me fortitude.
Great Grandma, quizzing Monkey (age 6) with spelling words
