Had one of those dreams so real that you feel your departed spouse and you are actually together in a heavenly Eden. Once again it was along a rocky shore like the shore around White Point Beach N.S. that Pat loved so much. Both Pat’s and my parents were there – sort of like a family gathering.  But it was my encounter with Pat that was so real and moving. She was dressed as she was that day we went to the hospital – she had on that faded blue jean jacket she often wore (see photo below).  That space in my chest that used to feel empty now felt full – it still feels full. It was filled with my beloved Pat.  We are united and she and God were comforting me after the day I had yesterday. Sunday, I was feeling abandoned, empty, lonely and depressed and unloved. Even Church and the mass didn’t help. This dream did.

Then the scene changed, and we were at Joey’s Seafood Restaurant with my son, his wife and our granddaughters. We were enjoying our seafood supper and the company. The scene was one of love. We were all very happy and contented. I remember how clearly, I saw Pat – she was so alive and three dimensional and beautiful I felt I could touch her. I am surer than ever that she loves me still: I am her beloved Eric and she is my beloved Patricia. I am also surer than ever that God answers our prayers if we ask for the right things. I needed this dream or vision. God answered with what I needed most. God’s will be done.
There is no waiting for the final judgement to meet again; as St.Paul said at death we are resurrected to join Christ. As Sunday’s Forward Day by Day stated: “In the Apostles’ Creed, we profess our belief in the communion of saints. Those whose earthly pilgrimage ends go on to a life more real than the one we enjoy here. They live just over the horizon of our finite sight. In Jesus, we remain connected with those we love but see no longer. Our love for them gives us a foretaste of eternal life. And it is in Christ’s love for both the living and the dead that my hope for an eternal reunion rests and will rise.”

Basic
by Patricia A. Bow Easter 1975

I love you little more than I love air
for every time I draw a breath
a puff withstands the void of death:
I love you little more than I love air.

I love you little more than I love water.
It sends the new green springing high,
without it I would surely die;
I love you little more than I love water.

I love you little more than I love bread.
It binds the muscle to the bone,
it sends the heartbeat throbbing on;
I love you little more than I love bread.

To which poem I add my own:

I love you little more than I love life
It made us man and wife
In unity for all eternity.
I love you little more than I love life