Sonja Foust

It’s been a year since my father-in-law passed away. I still miss him so much it hurts sometimes, and I’m sure the rest of his family feels the same way. I loved him, and I knew him well, and suddenly he just wasn’t there anymore. It was a confusing and heartbreaking experience, and still is sometimes.

I had a dream last week, though, that was comforting to me, and I want to share it because it might give comfort to the people in my family who loved Charlie too, and maybe to some random person out there who’s lost someone they loved.

In the dream, I was in Charlie’s house, only it wasn’t really his house– it was bigger with giant windows looking out into the back yard. The whole family was there.

We all gathered in the house, singing and joking and eating. Outside, though, it was raining. Hard. The back yard had flooded already and the corn in the garden was almost covered with water. Waves rolled toward the house.

We all slept through the night, though, and in the morning, the sun was out and the water was gone. I watched through the glass door as my family walked through Charlie’s garden. They smiled and waved at me. The corn was still standing.

I felt really comforted by this dream, and the message that stuck for me is that terrible things happen, but the sun comes out, the family is beautiful and happy, the garden still grows, and as long as we’re all together, even the terrible things don’t seem quite as terrible. With each other’s help, we’re all going to be ok. The sun will come out and the garden will keep growing.

With all my love to Charlie Foust, August 14, 1947 - February 7, 2008.

I’m so honored that “Cat in the Mist” is up for the Best Short/Novella Length Book of the Year at The Long and the Short of It! Please, if you have a moment, go on over and vote!

Thanks for all your support!