Today was the day.
Today was the day.
Today was my House of Dreams day.
As I’ve shared, the summer heat has been enough to nearly paralyze me. The long, hot, dry days have parched my soul. They have stolen my joy, but thankfully not my sense of sarcasm.
Today, though. Today was oddly different. I saw it last night – for the first time all summer there were clouds in the sky. They rolled in just as the sun was dipping down and I knew that it was a good sign. Summer showers are practically nonexistent here in Santiago, but for some reason today broke all the rules. I woke up this morning to more clouds and by the afternoon there was a nip in the air! Then, there was a rumble of thunder (can you feel my excitement rising?!) and THEN… ohhhh, yes…. THEN THE RAINS CAME!
Breathe deeply – can you smell it?
And so I knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that this was my HOD day. I curled up on my 9th floor balcony with a warm blanket, a cup of tea and my book. The storm rolled in as I journeyed with Anne down to the shore, as I skipped and danced with her, as I met the bewitching eyes of Leslie Moore. The rains came down as little Joyce came into the world and I shed a tear as she left. I couldn’t have made that journey on a sunny, bright day. I needed rolling thunder and raindrops.
Today was the day.
Every time I read this book I scratch my head and wonder why it’s in the “young readers” section. With every year of my life, it becomes more meaningful and rich. I guess it’s true what they say, that “youth is wasted on the young.” Wait… I’m only 29… I’m still young. Anyway, House of Dreams is all about a depth of beauty that comes in the relationships, changes, joys and tragedies of life.
Today was about the tragedy.
‘The Lord has given and the Lord has taken away, dearie,’ she said through her own tears. ‘Blessed be the name of the Lord.’ -Anne’s House of Dreams, ch. 19
Anne has known hardship before – her childhood as an orphan, losing Matthew and later Ruby – but there’s something different that happens at Four Winds Harbor. Anne realizes that not all dreams in life come true, at least in the way and time that she wants them to. Her little girl doesn’t live for more than a day and it isn’t fair. Why her? Why now? Why are healthy children born to families that don’t want them? Change the details and we’ve all probably asked similar questions.
You know the questions – the ones that have no easy answers.
In the days following, Anne makes a statement that resonates with me as it might also with you: ‘Oh — dreams,’ sighed Anne. ‘I can’t dream now, Captain Jim — I’m done with dreams.’ Then, in that dear old way, the Captain reminds her that she can and will dream again. He then tells her his own story of tragedy, and later we see her connect with Leslie in a new way because of their shared pain. Isn’t there something wonderful and hopeful in knowing that you’re not the first – nor the last – to have your little house of dreams battered by a storm? That someone else has journeyed down this path and seen what’s beyond the bend in the road? It doesn’t make the difficulty go away, but we need those people in our lives who can look us in the eye and say: You will dream again. And sometimes, after a time, we get to be that person for someone else.
I need you in my life.
And you need me.
Many people have dealt with the problem of pain in this world – C.S. Lewis, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and many others have taught and inspired me. But isn’t it interesting how, at the right time and place, Anne can teach me just as much?
Am I being dramatic? Perhaps a little. But it’s a dramatic sort of day. You should see these dark clouds – they’re delicious.
Captain Jim was a passionate worshipper of beauty. Every lovely thing heard or seen gave him a deep, subtle, inner joy that irradiated his life. -Anne’s House of Dreams, ch. 9
Captain Jim would approve, I think.
-big sis
