During the summer of 1982, Kaye Terry’s beloved grandmother’s battle with cancer reached its peak.  “This was an extremely difficult summer for me,” Kaye says.  “I was going through a divorce, my daughter was taken across state lines and my parents were going back and forth from their home in Texas to me in Georgia, to my grandmother’s farm in Kentucky.”  Everything was in an uproar.

“One night I had a vivid dream of a particular field on my grandparents’ farm in Kentucky,” Kaye says.  “My grandmother was walking across the field as a young woman. It was a beautiful spring morning, the breeze was blowing gently, the air smelled of the flowers and I could hear the barking of dogs. My grandmother was striding towards someone coming out of the trees---it looked like my grandfather---when she stopped and turned to face me.
 
“Everything is going to be okay,” Kaye’s grandmother said to her in the dream.  “Your daughter will be returned to you safely, and I’ll be watching over you.  Tell your mother that I love her very much.” 

“She was surrounded by such a peace and calmness that I wanted to run and join her,” Kaye says.  “But about that time, the dogs and the man had finally reached her. She turned and waved good-bye and reminded me again that she would be watching over me.”  Slowly the dream ended.
 
The next morning, Kaye’s mother, who was in Texas at the time, called Kaye.  “Mom,” Kaye said, “Grandmother died last night, and she said to tell you that she loved you.”

Kaye’s mother was astonished.  “How did you know?” she asked.  “I was calling to tell you that.” Kaye told her about the dream.

People often dismiss dreams as being nothing more than figments of our imaginations, or emotional debris.  But God often communicates with us in dreams, and Kaye is certain that this experience was a true message. Why? 

The man who came to greet her grandmother, Kaye is sure, was her grandfather, who had died thirteen years before.  Kaye had never encountered him in a dream before this moment, or since.  And in another endearing and personal touch, all of the dogs accompanying him were pets this couple had had during their marriage.

Kaye’s daughter was ultimately returned to her, and the two moved to Texas to be with Kaye’s parents.  “I can still see my beloved Grandmother walking across the field as a young woman,” Kaye says today.  “And in times of great turmoil or stress, I can feel her hand touching me softly, whispering in my ear and telling me that everything will be all right.”  A message that heaven brings to us all.

(C) Copyright Joan Wester Anderson 2007