Visions and Beyond by David Ellinger - HTML preview

A Sudden Farewell:

Soon the seasons came and went, and I was no longer in high school. I was a good student and enjoyed my studies. I thought about going into the ministry. I enjoyed helping people, and felt that my talents would be an excellent fit. I obtained enough courage to talk to a campus minister about a possible career. For me to even think about the field was not in the family fit or norm, One goes to college to become a doctor or lawyer to obtain financial security, not to help others.

I told the campus minister that I was interested in a possible career, but I had an internal conflict that I wanted to discuss with him. I told him that I personally did not feel that the Jew’s were going to hell for not believing in Jesus the same way the Christians do. For you see my neighbor was, Jewish and he gave me one of my first jobs. The minister looked me straight in the eyes, and said not everyone is chosen to go in the ministry, sorry, but come to Sunday worship if you would like to.

At that point, I had a moral and religious melt down. How dare a man of faith, who should be living by the golden rule of love for your neighbor as yourself, say such a statement to any young student. I remember going back to the dorm room with tears running down my face. I did not talk to another minister for eight years.

More seasons came, and went. I changed colleges, and majors, received a business administration degree with honors from Aquinas College, and then went on to receive an MBA in management from Western Michigan University. Remember that my family taught me that college was not to learn about oneself or to help the world, but to be able to earn a good financial living. It was the eternal chase of the American dream.

It was then the mid-eighties, and the Michigan economy was in the dumps. The Japanese were number one in car sales, and a recession was hitting all of the states at the same time. Jobs were hard to find, so I packed up my bags, and off I went to a government procurement job in Philadelphia. The City of Brotherly Love.

It was fall in the city when I arrived, and it was my very first experience in a large east coast city. The subways, the city lights surrounding Independence Hall were amazing to me. It was also my independence from the norms and traditions of my rural upbringing back in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I loved the pretzels that you could buy on every street corner, and the Philly cheese steak that you could buy in the neighborhood deli’s. I loved the art museum, and all of the history of city.

The job that I took was an entry-level procurement Job. Fall turned into winter and then winter turned into spring. The cherry blosoms began to bloom, and all the trees began to come back to life after a long winter sleep.

My boss was a very large woman with a heart as big as the city. When she smiled, the whole room would light up with her positive energy that just blanketed you in a soft warm glow. She took me under her wing, although she was just a few months from retirement.

I had an apartment at the time on the northwest side of the city. I was never much of a night owl, so I am sure I went to bed early on that work night, seeing that I had to get up to go to work the very next day.

That night, I had a very strange encounter. I was asleep, when suddenly my boss came to me in my dream. She was wearing a beautiful purple dress, and there was an intense purple glow all around her. She was smiling at me all of the time. She said David, everything is going to be just fine, and please do not be sad for me. I am very happy were I am now, and please do not worry. I am very happy. The vision was then gone, and the alarm clock went off for another busy day at work.
I was working in my procurement job, in a small cubical.

My boss passed my desk and then stopped. She told me that she was not feeling well, and was having a severe headache. She told me that she is going to go down to see the Navy nurse on the post, and she would see me later. I thought that maybe I should go down with her, but the telephone then rang and I had to attend to my busy desk as a new day had just begun.

The next day, I noticed that my boss’s desk was empty. This was not like her for she was always on time. I then knew that she was not feeling well the day before and that she might have just taken a simple sick day. Shortly that morning, management called us all together to tell us that my boss had died that night with a sudden aneurysm to the brain. They told us that she died in the middle of the night in her sleep, and it was very quick for her. The whole procurement team was in immediate shock.

How could this just happen to such a nice woman and she was just a few months from retirement. I was getting more upset by the moment, and than I remembered how she came to me in my dream and said her last goodbye. She told me not to be sad, and that she was happy in the spiritual world.

The vision in my dream showed friendship and an awakening that we are all interconnected, and that our spirits do grow and continue once we move on from our lives here on earth onto the streets of heaven.

The experience showed me that we could communicate between the spiritual world and our lives, especially in our dream state while we are sleeping. I was very sad about her passing, but I was also happy that she came to me to say a very special goodbye, until we meet in again in heaven and say hello.

It also taught me how to live in the moment as much as possible in the here and now, because our lives are so precious and time is so short here on earth. We should always enjoy each other as the time allows us to, and that our friendships do continue and never die away.

Forever drink from the chalice of laughter and grace
of the heavenly stars above.

May you rejoice in meeting
old friends and family
along the sparkling path before you, until we simply meet again.