The phone was ringing off the hook when he arrived at his apartment. He let the machine answer it. It was Rose.
“Hi David, please call me when you get in. I need to know if you’re going to Shady Tree Nursing Center to visit Aunt Tillie with me. The last time we went together you promised her you’d come back this month. Please call me and let me know. Thanks. ....Goodbye.”
There was a slight hesitation before she said goodbye.
He wasn’t quite sure what he should do. He didn’t want Rose to get any ideas that the marriage was back on, but he didn’t want to hurt sweet Aunt Tillie. Although she wasn’t his real aunt or Rose’s for that matter, he seemed very close to her and a promise was a promise.
Aunt Tillie had been very kind to him when his parents broke up. She’d call him and console him as if he were her own child. When in fact, she had no children of her own. After she fell and broke her hip, there was no choice except for her to go into the nursing home so she could be looked after properly. She considered the move temporary. Although she was 78 years old, her mind was really quite sharp. She was always considered a prayerful woman by the entire congregation.
He picked up the phone and dialed Rose’s number. “Hi, I got your message about Aunt Tillie. If you can be ready in two hours, I’ll pick you up.”
“Sorry, David,” she said. “I can’t go, but please don’t let that stop you. My father just asked me to type some information for him that he needs right away.”
“Well, I’m sorry you can’t go,” said David. “But I think I’m going to go anyway, just to let her know I haven’t forgotten my promise.”
“I’m sure she’ll appreciate that,” said Rose.
“Well take care of yourself,” David said after a short pause.
“I’m doing the best I can,” she said in a rather sad way. “Goodbye.”
“Bye now,” he said feeling rather strange. This was the first time they had spoken since the breakup. At least she wasn’t crying, he thought.
The drive to the nursing home took the better part of 35 minutes. It was an interesting ride as David pondered over and over what he would say to Aunt Tillie about his breakup. He didn’t want to hurt her. She was quite happy when he told her of his engagement.
He pulled into the parking lot and noticed a sign on the door of the building. “Residents are being evaluated today. Visitors welcome after six.”
It was 5:45 p.m. David resolved to wait in the receiving room.
“Hi, I’m here to see Miss Tillie Green,” he said to the receptionist.
“Would you please bring her to the visiting room at 6:00 p.m.?”
“Yes, your name sir?” she asked kindly.
“David Edwards,” he replied as he took his seat. He picked up a magazine, yawned twice and fell somewhere between a trance and asleep. He caught himself as he began falling out of his chair. The sudden jerk of his head brought him back to reality. When he opened his eyes Aunt Tillie was being wheeled into the room.
“Davie, sweetie,” she said in the most loving voice. “Come and give Auntie some sugar,” she said.
David immediately jumped up and went to hug and kiss her. “It’s been so long since I’ve seen you,” she said. “I thought you forgot about this little old lady,” she teased.
“Oh, I could never forget you, Aunt Tillie,” he smiled. “Never in a million years.”
“How’ve you been, dear?” she asked in a loving way. “Are you treating yourself right? How are you coming with those wedding plans?”
His expression totally changed as he stood up straighter and put one hand in his pocket.
“Wedding plans are sort of on hold for now Aunt Tillie,” he said cautiously.
“Well that explains my dream,” she said. He turned and looked at her straight in the face.
“You’re not shocked?” he asked.
“Oh honey, I was praying for you last week, when I had a dream that indicated you were not quite ready for marriage.”
“Well, what was it about Aunt Tillie?” he asked.
“Oh it wasn’t much to it son,” she said.
“Please tell me Aunt Tillie,” he begged.
“Well, she said, adjusting her false teeth with strange mouth movements. “I saw your darling little fiancé standing at the altar. She kept motioning for you to come to her. You were in the back of the sanctuary. Then I saw you from behind. You reached in your pocket and brought out a pocket watch. You opened it, shook your head and put it back. Then you appeared to be walking in the opposite direction of the altar.”
“Wow,” said David. “Do you think I left because it wasn’t the right time?” he asked in a rhetorical way. “Did you tell anyone about this dream Aunt Tillie?” he asked.
“Oh no honey, it wasn’t the sort of thing that I’d tell people who aren’t involved,” she said.
“Do you dream often Aunt Tillie?” he asked in a very serious tone.
“When I was your age, my family called me the Dreamer,” she said with a laugh.
David pulled a chair close to hers and sat down. “Do you enjoy your dreams?” he asked.
“Truthfully, David,” she said, “I wish I would never dream. It’s one of those gifts from God that you can’t explain. When I was first united to our church, I made the mistake of sharing some dreams with members of the congregation that I didn’t know very well,” she said. “It turned out to be a bad idea. A rumor was started that I was a psychic and people responded by treating me unfairly. They either told me every single dream they had, hoping for solutions to their problems, or they steered clear of me as if I was a witch.”
“How terrible,” David said in a sympathetic way. “I have something I would like to share with you, but I need to pray about it first,” he said.
“That’s fine honey,” she said. “It’s always good to consult the Lord about everything,” she continued.
The ride home was much quicker than the ride to the nursing home. David wanted to actually meditate before the Lord concerning his dilemma. Should he or shouldn’t he tell Aunt Tillie about his dreams? The pastor didn’t believe him. Would she? What about the proof of Darlene Smith? That was certainly no coincidence.
He was nearly home now. The first thing he planned to do was to look for his reference Bible. There was something in there about dealing with dreams that he wanted to investigate.