I just called to say...
I went home yesterday for a birthday party for my brother and I (I was born on his birthday) at my mom's house. Late in the evening she decided to tell us about a dream she'd had the previous evening. She had a very lucid dream that my father called and said "I know it's been a while, but I just called to check on the kids". Some people in this world believe that loved ones who've passed who appear in dreams are communicating with you from Heaven. I don't personally believe that but oddly it still warms my heart a little to think that maybe, just maybe, my dad exists somewhere with a consciousness and is thinking of me. Dreams like that can sometimes be a relief because it's like a quick visit from someone you haven't seen in so long (this January will mark the 15th anniversary of his death), but my heart just breaks knowing how my mom must've felt in those fleeting moments between dreaming and awaking to reality.