The phone hit the floor as she finished her explanation. My daughter was saying Mom over and over again as the phone fell to the floor.

I was dead now too but I didn’t feel dead. Instead, I felt more alive than ever in my life. I just woke up from my best nights sleep ever. Is it supposed to be this way, I thought and my grandmother answered.

“Yes, baby, it is. Now come on over here and say something to your Uncle Tom. He’s been waiting.”

With that said, Uncle Tom opened his arms to me and swooped me up just like he used to do when I was a child. “Been missing you girlie,” he whispered.

Home Again
Holding each others hands, we went home together. It was something like I felt the thought pass between the two of them.

“Elizabeth is waiting for us there now,” my grandmother told me.

My grandmother’s house was just as I had remembered it. Uncle Tom started shelling peas on the front porch just like he did when I was young. Smells coming from the kitchen made your mouth water and assured me that Grandmother Steph had been baking.

Though the thought passed that this situation was surreal, I was reminded that this was the part of life I loved as a child. Surrounded by people that I loved and those that loved me, I snuggled in within the confines of my mind.

Home again was a phrase that I had long forgotten but here I was feeling as safe as I had before my sister was killed and knowing that she was here for me as well. If this was a dream, I was beginning to enjoy it. In this place, I didn’t feel lonely.

Grandmother Steph motioned for me to come on in as she opened the screen door. I wondered why we always called her Grandmother Steph instead of her given name or just grandma. Without a beat, she told me. That was when I realized that she was reading my mind. That shouldn’t have been too amazing since, after all, I was dead but yet, still alive. The thought came that maybe I was dreaming and she answered that thought at the same time.

“You and your sister had another grandmother. As your father’s mother, I wanted you to remember our heritage. I cut our surname short because it was too much for you two little girls. So the name was Grandma Steph rather than Stephnowskwi. And you are not dreaming Marjorie. You are physically dead but that doesn’t mean your spirit is gone.”

Looking around, my Grandma’s home is the same except that it might be a little larger now. I didn’t remember it being that large when I was small. And when you are small, everything looks larger. Also, she had indoor facilities now.