A Miracle Called Ava
I knew you in my dream.
A Miracle Called Ava:
I am a Believer, but being spiritual and having visions or “seeing” things is different.
No, I’m not Nostradamus re-incarnated. I don’t have insight into when the world will end, and I don’t know when we will have world peace, although I wish I knew the latter.
I do not have a crystal ball I look into, and I can’t forecast the future.
I do “see” things, and it has been with me for as long as I can remember. My children call it “channeling”(that’s their private name for it), and my husband says I have a “hotline” to God.
Of course, this is not true, but I see death, births, events or anything specific to the person I am chatting to or thinking about.
No, I haven’t “lost the plot.”
I like to think of my ability as a spiritual gift from God.
There have been so many over the years, but I wanted to tell you about one specific vision.
We live near the sea, about 10 minutes’ walk.
During the December holidays, our family, including siblings from out of town, would spend days at the beach, happily frolicking in the water or simply enjoying the weather and the togetherness.
I’m happy because they are having fun.
I love watching them and hearing their laughter.
I cherish these precious moments, even though I am not a “summer” person.
My favorite season is winter.
On this particular day, my husband, son, daughter, her boyfriend, my sister, and brother were once again, as they did so many times before, swimming and enjoying the water.
I was seated on a park bench, facing the sea.
Water calms my mind and soul, and I can stare at it for hours.
My mind is at peace, and I am in awe of God’s miracle.
I gave thanks to God while watching wave after wave kiss the shore.
It was a picture-perfect sunny day at the beach.
While praying, a wave, one bigger than the previous ones, rushed to the shore.
I stared at it and saw a face emerge.
I blinked, but the face was still there.
It hovered above the wave.
It was a beautiful baby girl with dark hair, pale skin and unusual eye color. She smiled at me, and I smiled back. I can’t think what went through people’s minds when they saw me smiling at something above the waves.
Then I heard, “Welcome your granddaughter into the world.” Peace descended over me, and I nodded.
I turned away and looked around me, and at that moment, my daughter and her boyfriend, who were holding ice cream cones, came towards me.
I gave her one of my, I-know-something-you-don’t-smiles.
She was suspicious.
“What?”
“What happened,” she demanded.
My kids are used to the visions popping up.
I looked her in the eyes as she sat next to me, and I smiled and said,” I have just met my granddaughter.”
“Huh,” was her reply.
“You’re pregnant, and she is beautiful,” I continued. I described to them what she looked like.
The ice cream, long forgotten, dripped down her hand to the ground while she stared at me, dumbfounded.
She was naturally shocked and denied being pregnant. “I just had my period, and I am on the pill,” she cried.
I reassuringly patted her hand and said, “I understand, but you are pregnant with our granddaughter.”
She was still in shock and denial, and her boyfriend looked nervous with a tinge of excitement.
Not long after I told her, we went home, and I told my husband and son about the vision.
My daughter had ordered her boyfriend to go and buy pregnancy tests. I think he bought three.
Before doing the first test, my daughter repeated, “I am not pregnant, and you are wrong this time, Mom.”
I answered, “Yeah, you are.”
So we made a bet.
If she wasn’t pregnant, I owed her something special, but if she was (she was confident she wasn’t), then I could name the baby.
My husband and I were in our room having coffee when she came in, tears in her eyes, holding up the pregnancy tests.
It was positive.
I was elated and gave thanks to God.
We all were.
When my granddaughter was born eight months later, she had dark hair, pale skin and unusual eye color.
I instantly fell in love with her and named her Ava (per our agreement) after Saint Ava.
According to the church, Saint Ava was royalty and came from a wealthy family. It is unknown if she lost her sight during childhood or was born blind. She was, however, “cured” of blindness by Saint Rainfredis, who prayed over her.
The miracle of sight had Ava forsake wealth and comfort to become a Benedictine nun. She is the patron saint of blindness.
I chose Ava because of the miracle of seeing her before she was born.
Ava is now eight years old and is loved by so many. She is sweet, kind, gifted and beautiful both inside and out.
I dote on her, and we share an extraordinary bond.
Often, she would lie next to me and ask me to repeat the story of how I met her before anyone else. Once I have finished the story, she smiles, hugs me tightly and says my favorite four words, “I love you, Granny.”
