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The Dove Series
Written By
Bonnie M. Wells
{ # Two } Momma's Dreams
Two dreams will be presented here today. Neither are my own. Both were my mother's dreams.
Long ago ... as a small child, I promised my mother that someday I would become a writer and I would write her dreams down and tell the world about them. Today, I present two of her dreams ....The Dove, and immediately following ...The Old Oven. I decided to do it this way because the two dreams always seemed to go together, and so I think they should be told together.
The Dove Dream
Dreamer was walking along a pathway beside the river when she noticed something plummeting toward the ground. She was shocked to realize that it was a white dove and that it was on fire.
The dreamer rushed over to where the dove had fallen in hopes of saving its life, but just as she walked up to it and looked down at it, the last spark went out from the dead bird.
Then, the dreamer found herself entering a nearby funeral parlor. She saw the seating arrangements of the people. Some were family members, others were friends of the family. She took a seat beside a neighbor woman named Maggie L. and looked around the room some more. Everyone was very quiet and spoke in whispers if they spoke at all.
Another person came into the room and approached the casket. Maggie turned to my mother and quietly asked her if she had been up to view the body. Mom replied ..."No, I don't like to look at dead strangers."
End of Dream
Dictionary:
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(dov) alt. pt. of dive:
Bible:
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"As soon as Jesus came up out of the water, he saw heaven opening and the Spirit coming down on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven," You are my own dear Son. I am pleased with you."
Mark 1:9-11
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"Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves."
Matthew 10:16
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My mother was not a dream "interpretor" ... although she was a prophetic dreamer her entire life.
The dream frightened her, and yet she didn't know or understand why ..... for awhile.
A Warning Was Given
On January 1st, 1937 my grandfather .... my mother's father ..... was walking along the railroad tracks in Parkersburg, West Virginia. He was on his way to visit an ailing cousin. The day was cold and windy, grandpa was 65 years old, but still in excellent health. In 1937 most people didn't own automobiles and walking was the norm.
For reasons that no one will ever know, grandpa stepped out in front of a train that was being backed through the railway yards and was hit by the locomotive and 13 box cars. Remarkably, he was still alive when taken from the tracks.
Word spread rapidly, and "runners" were dispatched to locate all family members.
My mother was located and rushed to grandpa's bedside at the local hospital.
He was unconscious, and she always wondered if he knew she was there. I always told her yes, he knew and he was waiting for her to arrive and look down upon him .....
Just as my mother walked up to the bed and looked down upon her dying father, he let out his last breath, and was gone.
And she recalled her "dove dream" of only a few days earlier .... and she recognized the similarities between "the last spark of the dove and the last spark of life of her father." It didn't make his death any easier for her, and yet she knew that God had cared enough to send her a warning of that which was to come.
Grandpa's Funeral
Mom said she dreaded going to her father's funeral, and when she walked into the room and looked around at all the neighbors and family friends already seated, she realized they were all seated just as they had been in her dove dream. Maggie L. was there and had saved a seat beside her for my mother.
Only now, Mom realized it was her father lying in the casket, and not a dead stranger.
My grandfather died 12 years before I was born, so I never had the pleasure of knowing him. Mom always said I had many of his traits and characteristics.
His name was William "Bill" Frazer. Mom always said he was a tough old Scott-Irishman.
I wish I could have known him.
The Old Oven
Grandpa's death took its toll on my mother. She said she became extremely depressed in the weeks and months following his death, and just lost interest in everything around her.
In todays world she probably would have been given some type of anti-depressant to help her through the grief process, but back in 1937 there were no such drugs available. However, knowing my mother .... and my entire family .... and how incredibly stubborn and strong they tend to be ... I doubt she would have taken anything even if it had been available! We're all sort of an "anti-drug" bunch of people, regardless of the circumstances!
Never the less, Mom said she wasn't sleeping well, wasn't eating right ..... and the woman was only 5' 2" tall and weighed 95 pounds ... so it wasn't as if she could afford to lose too much weight!
After going to bed one night, several months after grandpa's death, and being unable to sleep, Mom decided she'd get back up and clean the oven in the kitchen stove. Yeah, that's a family trait too .... if you can't beat 'em, join 'em, and if you can't join 'em, then just outwork the whole damned bunch!"
Mom took the stove and oven all apart so she could soak the pieces in hot water and try to get them clean. After working for several hours, she had all the pieces cleaned, had the inside of the oven all cleaned and was ready to put it all back together.
She worked into the wee hours of the morning on the stove and had everything back except a tray that went in under the oven section. Try as she might, the tray would not fit. She said she turned it every way she could think to turn it, and it just would not fit into the space from which she had taken it.
Finally in exhausted frustration she sat the tray aside and went back to bed.
This time she had little trouble falling asleep. But when she did .... she dreamed of her father....
* Grandpa sat on a straight backed, wooden chair in front of the wood heat stove.
Mom entered the room and saw him leaning back on two legs of the chair, which was his custom, and she was immediately reduced to tears of great joy.
"Oh Pap, I'm so glad to see you. I thought you were dead, and I've just been so worried and upset about it. I'm so glad to see you...." she cried as she rushed over to him.
"Oh Stelly," grandpa said, "I'm just fine, and I don't ever want you to worry about me when I'm gone. Now you just need to take that tray over there and turn it over and it will slide right into that oven just like it's supposed to..." grandpa instructed ....
End of Dream
Mom said that when she awoke from the dream she immediately rushed to the kitchen, grabbed the tray she'd left sitting, turned it over as her father had instructed, and it slid right into the opening slick as a whistle!
And, she said the dream ended many months of sleepless nights and constant worry.
It's A "January" Thing
My mother's name was ....Stella Frazer-Martin. She lived to be nearly 83 years old. She entered the hospital on my birthday... January 21st, 1997... and passed away on January 26th. We held her funeral on January 28th.
I was raised by a step-father, whom I always considered my father. His name was Richard Martin. Dad entered the hospital on my birthday ... January 21st, 1994 ... and passed away on January 28th. He donated his body to research years earlier. There was no funeral services held at his request:
I miss them.
A Dove Named CooDo
Back to The Dove Series # 1
Bonnie M. Wells
Midi = The Girl I Left Behind Me
Page posted: 11-07-03
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