A Reminder From Heaven

On April 28, 2022, I dreamt two fellows from my past. (Just so you know: We had become friends when they had approached me when I worked in the license plate area at the Denver Motor Vehicle Department. They did not speak English and needed plates for a car they were driving home to Guadalajara, Mexico. Because I spoke Spanish, I helped them and they said they would return in three or four months and wanted me to meet their sister who would be returning with them. Four months later I received a post card from Mexico where they let me know they would be in the Denver area sometime around August. Sure enough, on August 15 they appeared at my office with their sister. The four of us became friends and we spent many times in each other's company. Through the years we continued our friendship of more or less sixty-five years.)

This picture is how I remember the younger brother!

Back to my dream of April 28 when I dreamt both of the brothers and we were laughing at how our friendship had begun. They sat across from me at a table and looked exactly how they looked when I met them. One was wearing a green suit while the other one had a white polo shirt. We remarked how amazing it was that we had become such good friends.

This a more current picture of the older brother.

The following day I texted their sister in Guadalajara and told her all about my dream. Her response surprised me. "Did you know that April 28 is when my brother passed away four years ago? I told her I had no idea and we both agreed it was a strange coincidence. Her older brother passed away about five months ago, around November of last year, yet they were both in my dream.

Could this have been a reminder from heaven that I should pray for them? Odd that I dreamt them on the anniversary of the death of the younger brother. For a few moments, in my dream, we were young and enjoying each other's company just like we did so many years ago!

"People think dreams aren't real 

because they are not made of matter and

particles. Dreams are real! They are

made of viewpoints, of images, 

of memories and puns and lost hopes."

Neil Gaiman

Another Friend Is Gone

 I got to know Lucille Romero at Spirit of Christ Catholic Community at the Young At Heart Group. She was a nice person who was always ready to travel. Since I planned outings to New Mexico and other tours she was the first one to sign up. What a surprise I got when I saw her picture on a tour to Mexico City when we visited Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine. 

At our luncheons and dinners she was present with her usual smile and we would chat about our lives. She would ask me if I was planning any trips. This was not to be because another friend told me that Lucille was not doing well. That last time I saw her she was using a cane yet, she managed to attend some of the functions. When I did not see her for a couple of years due to Covid, I thought that once the pandemic was over she would return to our festive functions

Last Thursday I heard that she had passed away. I sent a card from the YAH group with a message saying "Lucille loved to travel and she is now on her final journey." What can be said other than, may she rest in peace and that the Lord give the family comfort at losing their mother, sister, aunt, grandmother and friend.  Her friends will miss her, yet know she knew she was loved by many.

"The comfort of having 

a friend may be taken away,

but not that of having had one."

Seneca, Philosopher

On April 1, 2022, a friend and I drove to Mt. Carmel Catholic Church in North Denver for the mass for Lucille. I met two of her sisters and a nephew and realized that she had a full life with her family. She had two children plus grandchildren. The music of Ave Maria, Amazing Grace, Hail Mary, Gentile Woman and On Eagle's Wings were beautiful and heartfelt. We all prayed the Prayer of St. Francis which is one of my favorite prayers. The Eulogy by a granddaughter described her grandmother as loving, caring, cheerful, funny, religious, and many other positive adjectives.

A reception was held in the Parish Hall where we enjoyed many different kinds of Italian cookies, a scrumptious salad with strawberries, and a variety of Quiche dishes along with coffee, pop, and water.  A basket with bags of candy was on one of the tables and one of the sisters explained the reasoning behind the candy: The dark chocolate represented the parents, the yellow candy were the three daughters, and each daughter had two children. A sweet memento of their family! 

Five Young at Heart members from Spirit of Christ Catholic Community attended the funeral mass and  reception as a farewell to their friend.

"To know Lucille was to love Lucille."

From her Memory Card