man of my dreams

on the night that i learned i would not be graduating on time, i crawled into my tiny, twin bed with a puffy face and sore throat from all of the crying that i had done that day. my mom came in to talk to me before i drifted off to sleep, and while she was in there, my aunt (her oldest sister) called me on my cell phone. i was not in the mood to talk, even though i knew that she was calling to try and console me, and i let her go to voice mail.
later on that night, i had a dream that i was at some sort of family celebration and was holding a baby that belonged to a friend. while talking to the baby and watching the family members around me, a man came up to me and put his arm around me. i couldn’t see his face (don’t you hate how that happens in dreams?), but the feeling that i had when he was standing next to me was very distinct. i felt peaceful, complete, beautiful and very happy. this man then turned to whisper these very words into my ear, “this is us three years from now.” when i woke up, i remembered every detail of the dream, but didn’t give it much thought other than to think that it gave me a nice feeling.
after church, i remembered my aunt’s voice mail that was awaiting me. listening to her animated voice made me smile, but then her parting words just about made me choke on the atlanta bread company sandwich that i was eating. her words were, “and i have a feeling, [wifey], that we are going to be just as proud of you three years from now as we are today.” what? my dream from the night before was still fresh in my mind and i wondered about the significance of it all. little did i know that 3 years, 2 months and 12 days later, i would be marrying the man of my dreams who made me feel exactly like that man did in my dream the night of my non-graduation. i have no doubt that God gave me that dream and put those words in my aunt’s mouth to provide a flicker of hope for my future as i worked hard to graduate college.