Calm after the storm

Last night I had a terrible dream.

I dreamt that Todd and I were relaxing on our screened-in porch (that we don't have) on the front of our gigantic 4 story house (that we also don't have) while Nick was upstairs napping in his crib.

All of a sudden, the wind started picking up and the news flashed on calling for a huge tornado.

There was hardly any time for Todd and I to react, so we both crawled under a wood picnic table just as the tornado ripped across our house.

Fear and panic instantly set in as I worried about my baby upstairs asleep.

And just as fast as the tornado started, it was over, and Todd and I crawled out from under the picnic table to see our huge house was destroyed.  The entire roof and front side of the house had been ripped off, exposing Nick's room - and his crib...where he continued to lay there snoozing away, as if nothing had happened.  He was completely unscathed.

And instead of still feeling panicked, I suddenly had this overwhelming sense of calm.  I was at peace with what had happened.  Our house could easily be replaced or rebuilt.  We could live with our family (who at this point had now shown up) until our house was repaired.  But my family was fine - alive - well - thriving.  And I was not the least bit worried.

I woke up remembering every detail vividly.  And, a true worrier at heart, was surprised to feel that my heart was not racing, and I was still just as calm as I had been in my dream.

I wiped the sleep from my eyes and walked down the hall to see my toddler still snoozing away peacefully in his crib.

And I realized that the greatest depth of my worries, is having something terrible happen to someone who means the world to me - my husband, my son, my family, my closest friends.  And in knowing they are ok?  I am ok.  I am at peace.

After a particularly trying week - between work and other inconsequential occurrences that have happened, this dream was just another one of those small, inconspicuous reminders, that even if I woke up tomorrow and everything started to crumble around me - as long as I woke up, and I still had my family - all would be right in the world.

And sometimes I just really need that kind of reminder.