Our friend, Larry said that he had a dream about Joe. He said his dreams sometimes come true... Some time before Joe passed, he said that he dreamed that Joe was walking up some stairs, and halfway up, everyone there started shouting, "He made it!!" Larry said he thought it meant that Joe made it to heaven.

Our mom dreamed of 777 lighting up the sky as fireworks; this was in July, 2 months before Joe passed.  I told her that 777 is God's number; she didn't know. 

It takes a lot of faith to be an atheist. If you don't believe, ask God or whoever you want to call him, and ask him for proof he's real. When you get the proof, don't be too surprised. There's really a lot riding on this, you know.

Joe, of course, was in a bad way at the end of his life. In the hospital, we were blessed to have our cousin's ex-wife nurse/Franciscan Sister (what could be better, honestly) to tend to Joe.  Lydia told me that Joe had been angry, but now he was happy, because the Holy Spirit had been in the room in a major manifestation. She said that she had been telling Joe how loved he was by God, and that he was crying when she said this. She said it was the best day of her life. That was saying a lot since she had already had quite a full life with marriages, children and grandchildren. I had thought that she was projecting this and imagining things, though it was a nice thought.

When I arrived from Denver to the hospital to see Joe maybe a month later, she was right!  Yes, my brother was not himself, but it was true. He had been angry every time I had seen him, for the most part.  But now he had a happier disposition about him.  It was unreal. I believe God was merciful and had heard our prayers. The bible says the only way to God is through his Son.  Well, Joe met the Son that day and we will see him in his and Yashua's (Jesus's)  glory. God chose mercy for Joe, even if Joe had to lose his life in order to find Life.

Boy did kids watch a lot of tv in the 70s; we were no exception.  We always said whoever was closer had to change the channel.  So that became a contest and so each of us would move back further away than the other one.  We would sometimes end up on the next street back which was a good 5 minute walk.  We would laugh, and one of us would give in.

By the way, I'm mad you're not here.  Just like last year.  I watch Vince Gill to see how you would look now.  Love you guy.  Not a day goes by that I don't call your name.