Tap on the Shoulder

The place was my home, a suburb of Sydney.  It was winter,the year was 2000.

While my city was celebrating the wonder of our first Olympic games, my life was about to change, forever.  I was asleep, and had entered the dream world. Here I was, strolling beside the sea-side, water so blue and crystal-clear, the sand beneath my feet soft as silk and so white that it was almost blinding.

There was no other soul on the beach, but suddenly I was aware of a presence walking beside me, speaking words of comfort, reassurance. I couldn’t see the face, but I immediately recognised the person. His dress was almost as white as the sand that we walked upon, it felt like time had stopped. Just as clear as this picture was, so too the feeling of a tap on my shoulder. The kind of tapping as if someone were trying to get my attention, and I awoke.

Looking around the bedroom, I expected to wake with either my husband, or one of my children needing me… everyone lay fast asleep.

The next morning, I gathered the family, describing the dream, and the sensation of the hand on my shoulder…no one could explain so I tried to put it out of my mind.

he following day brought my answer. My mother, who had been fighting a battle with cancer, had fallen during the night…. my father found her the next morning.  As I drove my car recklessly up the motorway to her house, I realised in an instant my dream had been a message, a warning. I will always believe that the dream along with the hand that woke me, were both letting me know… ‘Get ready’

“Side by Side” poem written by Debbie Stevens, is based upon this incident.