I Dreamed of Jeannie, With the Light Brown Hair...

Yesterday while on a mini working vacation, Charlie and I slipped away from Hilton head Island and drove 50 minutes to Savannah. We wanted to see the old historic city, and  go to Paula Deen's restaurant. Friends told us it would be a shame to be so close and not get a taste. So we went, and both the town and restaurant lived up to its press. Paula has a little shop connected to the restaurant where she sells linens and cookware. I went in to look around and my eyes immediately spied very unique spatulas with wooden handles and colorful chickens. My heart jumped – my sister Jeannie would've scooped those up if she had been there. For years she had decorated her kitchen with chickens and had no intention of ever changing it. So I bought spatulas for her two daughters and for our two sisters in love. I thought they would appreciate them as I did.

When we came back to our rental home, Charlie and I had a great full evening. We worked, laughed, talked, played Scrabble (he beat me AGAIN), and around 11 I went to bed. Even though I was tired, sleep eluded me. I sat in bed and read and wrote for a couple hours and then fell asleep for a while, woke up again and read some more, fell sleep again around 4:30. And then I dreamed of Jeannie. I hadn't been thinking of her, I wasn't feeling sad or lonely, but I had such a vivid dream, I will never forget it. Jeannie came.

She was so happy and beautiful. She was in the kitchen of the house where we are staying, washing a few dishes. She held one of the chicken spatulas in her hand. She told me how she loved it, and that her greatest memorial would be the people she loved doing the ordinary things of life, loving them too, and remembering her as they did them.

I don't believe I ever said anything. I was overcome with awe and joy, but there was no awkwardness or discomfort in my silence. I wish I could get it down in perfect detail. When I awakened, I started writing immediately to try to capture everything as accurately as I could.

She told me to tell her girls to always love Christmas... that she had known that Christmas 2015 was probably her last Christmas on earth, and she had packed all the decorations away with special love for them, wanting them to treasure them, and always feel close to her.

She said she loves all of us dearly, and it will be such a little time until we are all together again – don't be sad. Then she said she couldn't wait to get back home. She meant her new home, and we both knew it. Just like that, she was gone and I was awake.

I don't know what you think about that. But it seems very real to me. I am so grateful. This vacation, I dreamed of Jeannie with the light brown hair, and it was God's great vacation gift to me.