I shared a very important message with my best friend, Helen, on the very day of her aunt Lena's passing.
Her aunt had been hospitalized for over a week, because she was so critically ill with cancer. However, once in the hospital, she received treatment, and miraculously seemed to be on the mend. In fact she seemed to be doing so much better that the hospital told the family that she would be discharged that afternoon.
Helen, spoke to her aunt that morning. They were both ecstatic. Helen planned to pick Lena up and take her home, and later that evening the two of us promised Lena that we would stop by to visit with her and bring her dinner. However, at 11:00 that morning, I was suddenly exhausted, and so I decided to take a short nap. Moments later, I was woken up by Lena. She was sitting at the edge of my bed, tapping on my shoulder.
Still drowsy and confused to see her in my room, I thought that she had left the hospital earlier than planned and had let herself in with Helen.
"Did you leave the hospital already?" I inquired.
"No," she responded, I passed away this morning."
"But, you were doing better. You were supposed to go home this morning." I said in disbelief. "What happened?"
"What happened?" she repeated. "They were wrong. That's what happened." She became very serious, and said to me. " Listen, this is important. I need a favor. Please tell my sister to invite my little brother Alex to my funeral. I want him there, and twenty years is long enough. It is time to reunite the family. Promise me that you will do this."
"Of course," I said.
She smiled, thanked me and vanished.
I immediately reached out to Helen. Firstly, I had to break the news about her aunt, as she had not yet been made aware of Lena's passing. Helen hesitated, as everyone knew that Lena had been doing so much better, but since she knew that I communicated with those who passed she stopped and listened to my message. I told Helen about Alex, explaining how important it was to Lena that he attend her funeral. Helen had never heard of Alex, and therefore she was sure that I was mistaken. After all if she had an uncle, surely she would have heard about him.
Under normal conditions, I would have just let it go, but I felt compelled to fulfill my promise to Lena and comfortable enough with my best friend to insist that she share the message with her family. I was right to have done so, because It turned out that Alex had been estranged from the family before any of the nieces or nephews had been born.