After a very long absence where I've just mostly been using Facebook, I'm finally back. I'll try to catch up.

Last Sunday morning, I had a vivid dream of Daddy's mother, Grandma Rose, walking up to me. I felt I had to preserve that dream in form of a poem and share it with others. I had the week to reflect on the dream and work on the poem. I completed the poem Friday evening. I e-mailed it to Daddy's brother Roy, plus shared it to individual family members at Mommy's family's Mother's Day dinner, and they loved it. As I grew up, Grandma Rose was living in Carnegie, Oklahoma but came Berea for Thanksgiving every year until 1999. I loved those times together, plus the few visits to her house. I got to spend her last Christmas with her at a nursing home in Las Vegas where Roy lives. She had died in October of 2000 when I was 18 years old. Grandma Rose herself wrote comforting poems about death and going up to Heaven. They made me feel better right after she died. I felt she was speaking to me from Heaven. The poems helped me when Grandma Betty was dying too. Grandma Rose's poetry and artwork have influenced me as a writer and an artist. I thought that posting this poem on Facebook would make a fine Mother's Day treat, though Mother's Day is nearly over by now.



A Heavenly Presence on My Shoulder
By Rachael White

I rarely get to dream of a loved one who has died,
So when I do, I cherish the happy reunion in my mind.
It doesn’t matter that when I awaken they are gone.
The enduring visions of us together are ever so kind.

Grandma Rose just appeared to me in such a dream,
Eleven and a half years after she passed away.
I saw her walking towards me in a crowded room.
Her eyes were shut but she seemed to know the way.

I became worried about her not opening her eyes,
And also about the grim look that was on her face.
I wondered if she had developed a blindness
That kept her from seeing Heaven in all its grace.

She ended up reclining directly in front of me
And placed her weary head on my left shoulder.
I anxiously gazed down at her still closed eyes.
My face was just a very few inches away from her.

Suddenly Grandma Rose’s eyes were opening
And she immediately looked upwards right at me.
Her disturbed face was replaced by a huge smile.
My being there was just the thing to make her happy.

I smiled back, deeply relieved that she could see again.
I was very touched by our pure joy to be together.
No words needed to be exchanged between us.
Our smiles showed how our deep bond was still there.

The happy encounter lasted only a bit before I awakened,
But Grandma Rose’s smiling face continued to linger on.
It was just my second dream I had of her since she died,
Though I’ve often imagined her beside me when I’m alone.

We lived several states apart during my growing up years,
But I loved the rare times together that we’ve shared.
I keep those pleasant memories of us visiting each other.
I am a granddaughter whom Grandma Rose really cared.