I had a dream about Cassie last night. Maybe I dreamed it because, since the tragic execution style assassination of Charlie Kirk just two days ago, I have been thinking a lot more about death and heaven. I always think, when Cassie’s picture pops up in our electronic rotating photo frame, how great it will be to see her again – both of us in our glorified bodies, thole and perfect.

In the dream I was doing something I had done for/with Cassie perhaps hundreds of times in her life – helping her to get from one point to another. I don’t know where it was we were going in this dream, but I found us walking down an alley or a corridor with a door at the end, on the right. The door was a security door (one of those that has a silver keypad with small numbered push-buttons) and I was certain that Cassie would need help punching in the numerical sequence needed to gain access and get through this door. This was due to my familiarity with her lack of fine motor skills and clear thinking, compounded by the difficulty she frequently experienced with mundane tasks that the rest of us find easy to do with no struggles at all. But this day was different. The whole situation was different.

Cassie, with an air of confidence, an uncharacteristic fluidity of movement and without any frustrated fumbling, deftly reached into her purse and pulled out two cards – one looked something like a drivers license or ID card and the other one ostensibly had the code written on it which she would be required to enter in order to unlock the door before her. As I approached to help her with what I felt would be a challenging task (based on previous experience) Cassie entered the digits on the keypad with coordination and dexterity I had never before seen her exhibit. With a “beep” the lock disengaged and, with uncharacteristic strength and stamina, Cassie pulled open the door with a single confident motion, not at all tentatively – which would have been her previous demeanor.

With great surprise I looked at Cassie and I was disarmed (in a good way) at what I saw. I was no longer looking at the familiar, chubby, disheveled woman we knew and loved. This Cassie was neatly dressed in clean, stylish attire, her hair freshly brushed, and she had an air of confidence and emotional stability about her. I was overjoyed as she looked back at me with that characteristic glint in her eyes she would often get when she had accomplished something that she was particularly proud of or that she knew we would appreciate or enjoy.

It may seem silly for me to tell a story of someone doing something simple that all the rest of us take for granted but many things in this life, which we find to be of no challenge at all, Cassie struggled with – sometimes with moderate to great difficulty. This Cassie, the one in my dream – was perfect – unfettered by her previous disabilities. When I told my dream to Cindy she said, “God was giving you a glimpse of what Cassie would be like in heaven!” I believe she was right – no more pain, no more struggles, clarity of mind never before experienced – in other words, whole and perfected. This is the new life I look forward to!

Oh, by the way, in my dream Cassie was taller (she would absolutely have LOVED that!)