Listen to Your Dreams

There are some dreams that I have that feel so real and they shake me to my core. But the dream that inspired this act of kindness takes the cake. I felt like I had an out of body experience. It was like I jumped in a wormhole and was transported to the specific time and place in which I was needed. Although this happens to me a lot, this one made me feel like I was compelled to help. I knew someone’s livelihood was on the line, so naturally I had to.

Picture it, Grand Forks, North Dakota 2016. I was a struggling college student, laying in my bed, curled up under the Blanket. I avoided getting up because I did not want to be greeted by the bitter cold that waited just on the other side of the comforter. I was lazily scrolling through Facebook with the sleep still in my eyes. And there she was. The face that was at the focus of my dream the previous night. That's when the dream came flooding back to me like the rushing water after the bursting of a dam.

In the dream, I saw her in her car on a dark night, seeming not to know where she was going. Tears filled her eyes as she looked back at her two youngest children asleep in their car seats. My dear cousin was distraught, but she was trying her hardest to hold it together. She pulled up to her oldest sister’s house, she scooped up her youngest baby and woke the older two. Then they all walked in the house.

When I woke, the moving picture of my slumber was not even a thought in my mind. But luckily our minds can be triggered by the slightest of sights. When I saw her it triggered a response that I couldn’t help, as if it were a reflex. I texted her, something that my introversion rarely allows me to do no matter who it is.

Hey cousin, I hope you are well. I had a dream about you last night and I feel that it was letting me know that you needed help. It looked like your oldest sister is trying to help you but she already has so much on her plate. I just wanted to let you know that I am here for you if you need my help. I love you.

She calls me about five minutes later bawling her eyes out. I could hear her sniffling and blowing her nose as she said:

“Mae, you have no idea how special I feel right now. I am so thankful that you had that dream. No one knows this, but I am homeless right now. I have been couch surfing for the past few months. And when we cannot find a place to stay at night we sleep in the car. I just don’t know what to do, I am doing everything I know to do. I can’t even afford to buy my kids school clothes.”

Tears brimming my eyes, I chime in with:

“I work at Old Navy, my employee discount is fifty percent off. Send me their sizes and I will do what I can. Also let me know where I’m sending them.”

“Mae I can’t let you do that or at least you have to let me pay you back.”

“Girl, don’t mess with my good karma. Let me do this for you, I really want to.”

When I got their sizes I had a shopping spree on my next pay day. Finding things for her oldest son was easy, as he needed khakis and polo shirts for school uniforms. But for her younger son I got to go crazy. Picking things up and saying “Aw, this is going to be so cute on him” or “OMG, he has to have this.” I ended up getting both young men a weeks’ worth of school clothes.

She gets the clothes and calls me. “Mae, this is too much. I am paying you back as soon as I can.”

“No you are not. I had that dream for a reason. I was meant to help you, no strings attached whatsoever. Please just accept it as a gift.”

Here came the tears again. “Mae, you don’t even know how much this means to me.”

“Don’t mention it. That’s how family does, we help each other out.”

In the end we were both grateful to have bonded even further because of this. To have shared such a vulnerable moment. A few months later my cousin called me and told me that she found a place to live. No longer did she have to couch surf or sleep in her car with her babies. It warmed my heart and tears spilled over my eyes. I was so happy that she had worked her butt off and achieved her short term goal of finding a dwelling, a place to call home. She didn't give up and I knew she wouldn’t. I may have helped her, but I know that she would have done it without me. I am extremely happy that she has been flourishing ever since.

I will always remember this instance, for it opened my heart to help others. You never know what people have endured or what caused them to be in a position of need. For those of us who have the means and the desire to help, it is up to us to light the path. To illuminate the way for others to see how much of an impact we could have. No deed is too small, go and shine your light so someone else can see the good in the world.