I dreamed of Madison

I never met Madison.

She died several years before I entered her arena,

long before I ever heard her name.

I have met her mother and one sister,

and perhaps the rest of the family as well,

though I don't recall it,

but I never came to know them well.

I am Facebook friends with her sister and father,

but I'm not sure that should we pass in the mall

they would recognize me nor I them.

Yet, early this morning,

I vividly dreamed of Madison.

During his illness,

one of the things that most bothered my Al

was that our then three-year-old granddaughter

would probably not really remember him.

Nearly 12 years later, I now know, despite insisting otherwise,

he was not wrong.

And now it bothers me.

Another thing that bothers me these days

is the knowledge that our great-grandsons 

will never meet him this side of Heaven.

 

It also bothers me that Lanny's Judy will never meet her grandchildren.

 

All three of these things bother me a LOT recently.

 

I suppose it's the time of year

coupled with the fact that our great-grands are so fun 

toddling 

    and crawling 

        and learning to talk 

             and stacking blocks 

                and.... 

 

And the fact that as a grandmother,

I know what pleasure my grandchildren bring me

and as a parent, I know how sad it made me that 

my mother did not see my children grow up,

that the one who met her has no actual memories of her

coupled with the fact that it bothers my Lanny Love and bonus children

causes me angst.

But early this morning,

I dreamed vividly of Madison

    whom I never met.

We conversed about things she would have been interested in.

    We did things that she would have enjoyed doing.

        We laughed a lot!

            We talked about my new, very short, curly haircut

            and how similar it is to hers

            but not nearly as cute on me.

The dream was extremely vivid.

And, I think, pretty accurate to Madison's personality.

Madison, whom I never met,

yet know because of the vivid, loving posts

of her sister and father.

I do not remember Madison,

but I know her.

 

Thanks for the clarity, young friend! 

 

 

An interesting aside.

After I had mostly completed this post,

I discovered that today is the 13th anniversary

of the end of Madison's earthly life.

I suppose somewhere in the back of my mind,

I probably knew this,

but it was way in the back of my mind.

I love God's timing and use of His children,

even after they have left this world.