I had gone to a gathering of friends and family. I didn't recognize most of the people. Everyone was talking and laughing in the kitchen when I decide to go downstairs to the rec room.
I descended the carpeted stairs to a large bright room filled only with toys and a couch. How odd, nobody has come down here, I thought. Then I sat down on the couch.
As I sat on the couch, Jim (Len and Calvin's dad) sat down next to me. He held a bowl of soup. I had never eaten this kind of soup. I thought about asking him if I could taste the soup but didn't. Jim sat quietly eating the soup. We didn't say anything to each other. We just sat peacefully together.
Then Calvin joined us on the couch. He sat between Jim and me, right up against us. As the three of us leaned back, Jim put his arm around Calvin, and Calvin, in turn put his arm around me.
I said, "It feels strange to be here without Len. I miss him and feel sad a lot."
Calvin and Jim agreed.
Then I said, "I think about Len all the time. I do feel him around me all the time."
Jim and Calvin decided to go back upstairs to get something more to eat. I sat alone on the couch for a while longer.
Then I got up intending to go back upstairs, join them, and try some of the soup.
As I started toward the stairs I noticed a door off the rec room. I was very curious where that door led, but I didn't open the door. Instead I walked passed it.
As I rounded the corner, I saw on the other side of the door I'd passed, an open doorway to a small room with a lone chair inside. If I had taken the closed door I would have come into this room. The room was the size of a walk-in closet. Sunlight poured into the room through the open side. There was nothing in the room except the chair. I sat down on the chair, a chair with soft upholstery and pillows that cradled my body.
As I was sitting on the chair a young boy with blond hair ran down the stairs. He looked at me briefly while running into the rec room.
Shortly after that, a young girl with blond hair chased after the boy. She, too, looked at me as she ran by. The boy and girl were laughing and playing in the next room.
Suddenly, a monarch butterfly flew into the "walk-in closet". It flew around the room, like a moth is apt to do. It circled me, while I stayed seated quietly in the chair. It flew close enough for me to clearly see its bright orange and black patterned colors.
I thought, "How odd to have a butterfly inside the house. But it's so cool. Maybe if I sit quietly and put my hand out, I can get it to land on my hand the way Len could."
Finally, the butterfly did land on my hand. I was excited and called to the kids in the rec room to come quickly and quietly to see the butterfly. The kids were too wrapped up in whatever they were playing, so I sat by myself and admired the butterfly perched on my hand. I told it I was glad it had trusted me enough to land on my hand.
Then the butterfly flew up to my face and landed on my cheek. It fluttered against my cheek, like the butterfly kisses children give each other with their fluttering eye lashes.
Next thing I felt was the butterfly sitting on my shoulder. It had grown as big as a toy poodle and was leaning against my cheek. It was inanimate and as soft as a stuffed animal. Then the butterfly, while still retaining its new size, moved again. It closed up its wings and continued to rest on my shoulder against my cheek.
How strange, I thought. I must be dreaming. Up until that moment, I'd felt as awake as I do now. Of course, once I realized I'd been dreaming, I woke up.
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