Lisa, Kathlene and I walked from the parking lot through the automatic doors.
It was a cool, early summer morning. Lisa was wearing that black sundress with the floral print that she loved. Kathlene was in jeans and a turquoise top. I can not recall what I was wearing - only that I was carrying two small bags.
What was in those bags and where we were going, I can not say. It was long ago.
Lisa and I were in our mid-50s when we walked through those doors. Kathlene was in her 30s.
We were chatting about something insignificant.
The women passed through the doors a couple of steps in front of me. I wasn't paying close attention. Something on the floor in the foyer had caught my eye.
A few steps inside the door, I didn't see Lisa. I knew Kathlene was off to my right.
I looked around and still didn't see Lisa.
"Kathlene, where's your mother?"
"Daddy," said Kathlene then paused.
I turned to look at her and saw a sixty-ish year old woman standing there looking at me.
"Mommy died six years ago. Remember?"
I was confused. What happened?
"How old are you now, Kathlene?"
"I'm 63, Daddy."
Where did thirty years go?
"Jay! C'mon! Let's go!"
I looked and saw Lisa in the hall. She was 20 or so in a white dress with baby's breath in her hair.
"Kathlene! Do you see her?," I whispered.
"See who?"
"Your mother."
I dropped the bags and hurried over to where Lisa was. I tripped and she caught me. I looked into her eyes as she said, "It's time to go."
There was some commotion behind us as we started down the hall. I turned to see what it was.
There was an old man laying there face down. Kathlene was kneeling there and crying, "Daddy!" Nursing staff was running out to assist.
Lisa said, "She'll be OK. We'll be back to get her soon."
We continued down the hall. I realized there were others there waiting on me, welcoming me home.
I cannot say definitively whether or not loved ones appear when one dies. There is no scriptural basis for it. The only person that I recall who sees someone at death is Stephen in Acts 7:56 when he says: "Look," he said, "I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God."
It's a comforting thought that someone will be there, but I don't know.
Photo by Jonathan Borba: https://www.pexels.com/photo/cheerful-sweethearts-hugging-and-laughing-together-5353559/
