My father died from cancer at 12:09 a.m., in the early hours of December 24, 2005 (Christmas Eve). Since my dad’s death my mother has had serious financial problems because his life insurance wasn’t payable due to a technicality, and her own job didn’t give her a pension. She tried to fight the life insurance company in the first few years after dad’s death, but gave up. She was considering putting their house up for sale and she was also very stressed because it was Christmas (the anniversary of his death, and a lonely time of year to face the holidays on her own). They had owned the house for 30 years and she was very upset about losing it.
I had my experience exactly nine years later, in the early hours of December 24, 2014, which is when he had died. I had gone to bed just before midnight on Dec. 23 but I woke up around 1:00 am on Dec. 24 from a very ‘real’ dream about my dad.
In the dream I was at my parents’ house and it was the night between December 23 and Christmas Eve (as it was in real life). My mom, my kids and the rest of my family were there; dressed nicely and gathered by the Christmas tree, relaxing and watching the fireplace. I needed to go to the bathroom quite urgently. I ran through the house to a washroom but when I opened the bathroom door, my dad was there fixing the toilet. He was sitting on the floor looking like he always did, but wearing messy work clothes and using a toolbox. There were tools everywhere (screwdrivers and rags, etc.) and his hands were covered in grease. He was loosening the bolts on the toilet and scooping dirty water out of the toilet to repair or replace it from the floor. The bathroom smelled like poop and it was very messy. I don’t recall being surprised to see my dad because it seemed very real and natural for him to be there, but I wanted him to clean up and join us at the Christmas tree and I really wanted to use the washroom! LOL
I told him I needed to use the washroom and I rushed to the next bathroom. Even though I never passed him in the hallway, he was there in the next bathroom when I arrived. Again, he was sitting on the floor of the next bathroom with a toolbox, scooping ‘poop’ out of the toilet and saying that he needed to fix it. This continued throughout every washroom in my mom’s house, no matter where I went. I think there were even ‘make believe’ bathrooms where my dad would always be sitting on the floor trying to clean up the poop and install a new toilet.
I kept saying ‘Dad! What are you doing?? It’s Christmas Eve! Get cleaned up and join us by the fireplace! We want you with us for Christmas! Don’t ruin Christmas! Fix the toilet later! Please leave it for later and let me use one of the toilets!!!’ Every time I said this, my dad was insistent that he had to keep working to help my mom. In every washroom he said ‘Don’t worry. There’s nothing to worry about. I’ll be with you all for Christmas, but first I have to clean up all this shit for your mother. I have to fix this mess. Just let me clean up this mess and then I will join you all for Christmas. Don’t worry; it will all be OK’.
I woke up around 1:00 a.m. laughing and thinking it was a very bizarre (yet realistic) dream. I was sad that I wouldn’t be seeing him for Christmas, after all.
Around 7:00 a.m. (6 hours later), my mom phoned me and said that she had ‘seen’ my dad during the night. She wasn’t sure if it was a dream or an apparition. He told her that he would be there with her for Christmas and not to worry about anything. There were no toilets, but he assured her not to worry about anything because he would be with her for Christmas. I told her my dream and we were surprised at how similar our experiences had been. She was very sad that he wouldn’t really be there, and that she would still need to sell the house because of financial matters. When she hung up I could tell she was crying sad and lonely tears.
About two hours later (9:30 am on Christmas Eve), my mom phoned me again. This time she was elated. She was so happy she was crying tears of joy. My dad’s insurance company had phoned her and said that they had finally approved my dad’s claim. One of their laws had changed, effective that morning. She suddenly received a HUGE settlement, plus retroactive payments, right then on the anniversary of dad’s death. The agent told her ‘Don’t sell your house. Your financial MESS is all sorted out!!! Merry Christmas! You must have a guardian angel!!!’
My dream suddenly made sense. In my dream, dad was in the process of ‘fixing the mess’ and ‘cleaning up all this shit’ at mom’s house … The mess / shit was a metaphor for mom’s insurance nightmare and financial problem!!! Within 8 hours of my dream the problem was solved, almost by magic, right on Christmas Eve. It was a Christmas miracle from my dad, allowing mom’s insurance problem to get fixed so we could enjoy Christmas. We feel like my dad was definitely there with us for Christmas Day, protecting the house and acting as our guardian angel.
Mom got her payments and everything has been like a dream since that day.
All of her toilets are fine LOLLLL