About 10:15 this morning, I opened my front door to check out the snow. Yes, snow. It was almost 70 the last few days and this morning it's snowing. And Mother Nature is messing with my head with a migraine today. Damn, her. But I digress.
Anyway, I opened my front door. The grass is covered with snow. The driveway and walkway to the front door are soaking wet. Snow is flying around. The tree branches are snow covered. I'd say it was pretty, but it's the first day of SPRING. Snow in the Spring is not pretty.
Sitting on the wet ground at my front door was a picture. A picture of Mom, Nana, and me. In fact, it was this picture:
One of my absolute favorite pictures of us. I love the smile on Nana's face. I love how genuinely happy she looks. I love how healthy she looks. She was in the hospital for knee replacement surgery and this must have been a few days after the surgery when she was finally feeling like herself again. Notice the lipstick she's wearing. It was her belief that no matter what else was going on in the world, as long as she was wearing lipstick, everything was okay. And people wonder where I get this belief from.The picture sitting on the ground had been on my Christmas tree, as evidenced from the hole punched in the corner, but the ribbon was missing. Not torn out, just missing. My 2009 Christmas tree was a memorial to Nana and featured about 3 dozen pictures of Nana along with snowflakes she'd crocheted, but it was a fake tree, so I'm not sure how the picture ended up outside when I put the tree away. There were no water stains on the picture from months outside and the picture was completely dry, which was odd since it was laying on the very wet ground and it was snowing. Aside from a little dirt, the picture was in perfect condition.
I'm not sure where this picture came from, but I dreamt about Nana last night. Although I don't remember the details, I do remember she was visiting me here in my dream. And she was the way I remember her. Smiling. No gray hair (seriously, when she died at age 93, she had almost no gray hair and I hope that bodes well for me). Wearing lipstick.
When I woke this morning, I had a tough few moments deciding if my dream was real or a dream. I wanted it to be real because I miss her so much. I often think about if I just had 5 more minutes with Nana how I would spend it. I'd have so many questions I'd want answers to. So many things I would love to tell her.
Maybe my dream wasn't really a dream, but was reality. Maybe she actually visited me and left the picture, so I'd know it was real and not a dream. Maybe the reason I overslept and have a migraine was so I wouldn't rush out of the house through the garage early this morning and miss the gift she left me. Maybe.
I read this in the reader and then came over here and read it again... through my teary eyes.
ReplyDeleteAs I often say, there is no accounting for grace, which often shows up as whisper or in this case, a photo in the snow.
Thank you for sharing this with us, it is beautiful. And it underscores the legacy of your Nana and how she lives on in you and elsewhere.
Peace to you! The snow will melt, spring is here, in your heart.
Thank you so much Fran!
ReplyDeleteI've had this experience before. Before my paternal grandmother died, I had this incredibly real dream, where my grandfather visited me (he'd died 14 months earlier) and told me that my grandmother really loved me and that he was sorry I didn't really know that, but she just didn't know how to show it. He explained things to me about her that I hadn't known. She and I always had a rocky relationship and this dream really helped me deal with her death a few days later. It helped me not be angry with her and stop feeling like I had failed somehow in her eyes.
I very much believe that my grandfather really visited me that night and that it wasn't a dream.
I don't know why I have these experiences, but I believe I'm incredibly lucky to have them.
I think there are no such things as coincidences. I think you're right; your Nana DID visit you, and your proof is in the memory of your "dream" and the dry, undamaged photo in the snow.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I think she and my Oma would have gotten along well if they'd known each other; both understand the necessity of a bit of lipstick! My Oma still doesn't go anywhere without some color on her lips. She feels unkempt without it.