Ten years ago, on the 19th of January, my dad moved on from this earth to become a treasure in Heaven. I tried to write that day, but it wasn’t in me. After he passed, I wasn’t sure how we’d go on, he was the life blood of this family.

Yet, here we are, ten years of life without him on earth. However, he does make appearances in my life. I dream as if he were still here with us. These dreams feel as if he is genuinely in our lives, eating breakfast at the kitchen table, taking a Sunday drive for lunch at Sam’s Joint, watching “Becker” with him laughing so hard he’d nearly fall off the couch, walking up from the dairy barn together finding constellations in the night sky after he’d milked cows, and watching him and my mom sit on the couch taking turns petting our cat Daisy purring loudly between them while they enjoyed the daily newspaper (back when they printed a paper daily).

The first few years he was gone, waking from these dreams was about as depressing as waking up on January 20, 2004 only to realize he was gone from our daily lives. It broke my heart every time. While sleeping, it was a sweet dream. After waking, it was a nightmare.

Fortunately, in these last few years, it has become a blessing. I can meet him there, and all is as it should be. Even better, my dad isn’t the first loved one I have experienced this with. In my dreams, I also meet others who have gone before me, such as my grandma and her sister, my aunt, my sister, my niece, and many others. Each time a loved one moves on from here, it’s a terrible reminder that I can no longer talk with them, break bread with them, or enjoy their company. Each time, it is now a blessing … but like many things in life, that blessing took time to come.

I pray you find comfort in some way for your loved ones who have left this world as we know it. For me, everyone goes to Heaven. It matters not if they were Christian, because I believe in an all powerful and all loving God who would not separate us from His children in the afterlife … animal and human alike. May you also find peace from loss with time.