Magical Mondays: Someone to Watch Over Me

Some time ago, there was discussion on Magical Musings about the book "Write it Down, Make it Happen" by Henriette Anne Klauser, which led to "Boob Wishes." (My "Boob Wishes" are a post for another Monday :)

Anyway, since I've been experiencing some uncertainty lately about the direction my life has been taking, I remembered something that happened several years ago--long before I'd heard of boob wishes or Ms. Klauser. :)

A bit of a prologue:

One night, several years ago, I dreamt that I was walking down a hallway, and suddenly a very dear friend named Kathy, who had died many years before, appeared in the hall. I was so amazed and happy to see her and truly felt her presence--it didn't feel like a dream. I was just so overjoyed and astounded that I asked, is it really you? She nodded and smiled, gave me a hug, then opened a door behind her. She took my hand to show me inside, but I held back and looked through the brown metal blinds of a large window by the door. Inside the room were several corporate types sitting around a table with computers--there was one red-haired woman I found particularly intimidating. Kathy tried to get me to go in and talk to them, but I was afraid. I felt like I wouldn't belong there, but she told me I had nothing to fear, that I could go in. Still I resisted, just knowing I didn't belong in a such a group (I could see they were far better educated and experienced than I was) so I just watched for a few minutes then I woke up, still feeling like she had really been with me.

Flash forward a couple of years...

One weekend, I was depressed wondering if things were ever going to look up for my daughter and me, and if I was working to the best of my abilities (do you sense a theme here--I do this periodically.) I had quit a full-time job to work part-time, but I wasn't making enough money to cover all the bills.

That Saturday, I thought about all the things I had done up to that point as far as work (I had only been working for about five years then--had been a homemaker for the ten years prior.) I wrote down all the things I had enjoyed doing, and what my "ideal" job at that time might look like. I also wrote down a salary that as a no-longer-young, single mom with limited education didn't really seem feasible, but I wrote it down anyway. I put the list in my purse and went about my business.

The next day, Sunday, I took my daughter to a nearby town to watch a movie. While we were there, I remembered a computer instructor from a class I took soon after my divorce, David Z. He and his family lived in that town and were very kind to me, but I hadn't seen them in several years. The notion crossed my mind to stop by and say "hello" but I dismissed it, thinking it would be too odd after so much time had passed, so I just went home.

The next afternoon (Monday) I got a call from the new secretary at my former job. She asked if I knew a David Z. and said he had called for me that morning, but she didn't want to give him any information about me if I didn't know him. (Dave had also recommended me for the former job.) She said he left his number because he wanted to talk to me about a job I might like. I called, amazed since I was just thinking of him the day before, but was even more surprised when he described the job: it was everything on my list, including the salary.

Of course, I felt it was out of my league and there was no way I would get it, but I applied anyway. To my great surprise, I got it. But the most astounding of all, was a few weeks later when they showed me around the building. There it was: the large glass window by the door, the brown metal blinds and people sitting around a table with computers. And that scary red-haired woman? Her name is Shauna, and she's not nearly as intimidating as I thought she would be.