Once upon a time, in your wildest dreams....

I've always believed that when you dream of a person who's passed - it's a visit from them.

I'd never had one -but I've always firmly believed that's what it means - and if ever a friend mentioned that they'd had a dream about a loved one, I'd try to reaffirm that belief with them so that they'd feel good about the experience.

I don't typically remember my dreams; and if I do, the funny thing is - they don't typically involve people I know. I mean, I know who they are - but they don't look like the people they're supposed to be. Almost as if it's just representation of who they are; but usually it's almost just so faint, it's like a watercolor painting that wasn't quite dry and someone threw water on it so the images start to melt away.

But this morning, I dreamt of my Mom. She was there... and she was sick, but she wasn't incapacitated; and she was walking along the beach with me - which is rather ironic because she never liked the beach, and I even vaguely recall saying that to her -- but yet there we were. Anyway, there are many details to the dream which I won't get into here - but the way it ended was that she sent me a birthday gift. The last thing before I woke up suddenly was hearing her voice saying "because it's your birthday honey..."

I woke up..... and I cried.
(We all know how infrequently I cry. It just felt so real, I could still smell the ocean.)

I thought maybe today was the 8th -- but it's not; tomorrow is 3 months that she passed; my birthday is next month.

And today.....I had a visit.
Maybe it's an early birthday present.