Heavenly Resorts

Chapter V - Gertruda

                   It was about 1 pm on November 15, 2022, Gertrude was snoozing in an armchair, after lunch, which was prepared by her caregiver. Gertrude lives In England, in Liverpool, she is 89 years old, she suffers from senile dementia, she is independent, she can take care of herself, but at the same time she needs care, which the family provides for her, by providing care from the Caregiver.

                    Gertrude is a smug old lady who has worked as an Accountant all her life, has achieved a good professional position, and now in her old age it is time to rest and take stock. Our old lady's dementia is not yet so far advanced, so Gerturda is able to function normally, go for walks, solve crossword puzzles and have long disputes with the Caregiver. The caregiver is Polish and is very fond of Mrs. Gerturda, her name is Aurelia. She is happy that she is in such great condition despite the beginnings of dementia. Together with the caregiver, they happen to have long conversations about life, death, life's journey, the job where Ms. Gerturda worked, and Heaven. The old lady is particularly preoccupied with the vision of going to Heaven. As an elderly man who no longer has much left to live for, Gerturda has a special fondness for this topic. She feels close to Jesus in some way. She prays in her own way, often as if meditating, musing. Her life has been a cheerful, happy one, and now in her old age she is sure she will make it to Heaven.

                      Gertrude woke up after about 50 minutes and asked the Caregiver to take a walk. The two women quietly got dressed and went out to the park. Strolling through the alleys, they talked about Mrs. Gertrude's dream. The old woman dreamed of Heaven, there was a beautiful meadow where the Angels had a picnic, and there were people, all cheerful, happy. The picnic was full of the bustle of birds, conversations between Angels and People, on the blankets the old woman saw baskets with cakes and food. They wanted to invite her, but she had just woken up and her sleep was over.

                       She asked the caregiver what she thought of the dream. Aurelia replied that the Old Woman had had a very beautiful dream and she would love to go to such a picnic herself. She also replied that here on Earth, they could also have such a small picnic, and that Aurelia would bake a cake and prepare goodies to eat. Admittedly, it's not very warm, but if it's a short picnic, they won't get cold. Autumn this year was quite warm, it was about 15 degrees celsius. The ladies strolled around the park for 20 more minutes and went home quietly. Gertrude was to be visited by her daughter and son today. The daughter's name is Elizabeth, the son's name is Lewis. After returning home, Gertrude decided to watch TV, preferably the news, as she wanted to find out what was currently happening in the world.

                     After two hours, Mrs. Gertrude's children arrived. The caregiver prepared coffee and tea, along with cake. They sat down at the table and began to talk about Mrs. Gertrude's activities of the past few days. The old lady, however, necessarily wanted to tell them about her new dream from Heaven. 

                    Talking about the Heavenly Picnic, she mentioned that she and her guardian were planning to have such a picnic, and whether they were willing to accompany them. Elizabeth and Lewis countered that yes, but it would have to be held on the weekend, since they work during the week. They also replied that it was probably too cold for such a picnic after all, too late in the autumn season, and whether they could turn it into an outing to a café. Gertrude countered that she actually wanted to do this picnic under the influence of sleep, and thinking about it, she replied that the best solution would be to go to a cafe after all. They planned to go to a local atmospheric café on Saturday, November 19.    

                      Gerturda involuntarily countered that the dream was so beautiful that she would love to retire to such a Heaven already. Elizabeth countered that she hoped she still had many more years of life ahead of her and couldn't imagine she would just leave like that. Leaving this world always involves death, a funeral, and burying the body in a grave. Elizabeth wondered about this, and even for herself, such a prospect was too sad and terrible, whether in the case of her death or Mama Gertrude's. Elizabeth and Lewis sat together with Mom for another hour, telling Mom about their private affairs. After an hour, they said goodbye to Mom and the Caregiver and left for their homes.

                     The caregiver was preparing Gertrude's dinner, although the latter was not hungry. Gerturda ate one slice of bread with jam and said she would like to go to bed now and watch TV in bed. The caregiver prepared a bedding and said she would be in the other room if Gertrude wished anything. The elderly lady watched TV for 1 more hour and fell asleep. During the night she dreamed again of Heaven and Jesus. He said to her that he had a surprise for her and that she would not have to depart from this world in the traditional way, Gertrude wanted to ask what it was about, but she awoke during the night and unfortunately after that she could not talk to Jesus again. She tried to fall asleep and only succeeded in doing so in the morning. When she woke up again around 9 a.m., the Caregiver was waiting with breakfast ready. It was November 16, and our old woman wondered what Jesus might have had in mind.