Legacy of the Dreams

Chapter 1 - What You Make of It

Susan Abernathy sat down to Sunday supper in the dining room of her home in the hills above Malibu, in the midst of family and friends. Her husband, Greg, sat at the head of the table while she sat to his right. Their 22-month-old daughter, Melody, sat between them in her high chair. Directly across the table from Susan sat Rabbi Sloane, one of her husband's oldest friends and religious confidant, while beside him sat Reverend John Wilson, his wife Karen, and their son, Peter, a visiting missionary family and friends of both of hers and Greg's from Australia.

On Susan's other side was her adopted daughter, Jessie, who sat beside Bert, a boy who during the past month had become her new best friend. Bert's mother, Shelly Goodman, also a friend of the Abernathy's, sat between him and her daughter Kelly, who sat beside and went to school with Susan's fifteen-year-old son, Zack. Zack's eighteen-year-old brother, Matt, sat next to him with his girlfriend Ashley. Distant family members Reuben and Ruth Nash, and Mr. Bob Simms came next, while on the other side of the table, Greg's stepson Neil from a previous marriage and his fiancée Rosemary rounded out the complement of those who were present for this particular meal. Every one of them bowed their heads in prayer when Greg offered up the blessing before they ate.

"Dig in, everyone," Susan announced.

They did.

"Susan, I know I've said it before, but I feel I must say it again. You and Greg have a remarkable home," Rabbi Sloane commented.

"We do indeed," Greg said.

"I can second that," John said. "It's not every day you come across someone who has a cave beside their home."

"There are some who live in the outback who have their homes inside a cave," Karen said.

"There are people who live in caves," her husband, John agreed. "We were discussing whole communities who lived inside one earlier today."

"You mean in ancient times?" Karen asked.

"Probably medieval or renaissance times," John said.

"In the 1600s," Greg clarified.

"Greg, his family, and many of their friends who are gathered here solved their collective mystery today," Rabbi Sloane explained.

"It's about time," Neil remarked. "In my opinion, that has been going on far too long."

"I fully agree," Reuben said. "Maybe now I can sleep better at night."

"I'm looking forward to that," Shelly said earnestly. She sat roughly across the table from Reuben, a man who was her soulmate from another age, and was twice her husband in other lives. They were mismatched now, but in the past month the two had become friends.

"I am too," Ruth, Reuben's wife in his current life said.

"Not me," Bert, Shelly's 10-year-old son, said.

"Why not, you?" 91-year-old Mr. Simms asked. Mr. Simms was a distant cousin of Greg's, Jessie's great-grandfather, and their frequent houseguest. He lived with them about half the time, splitting his time between stays with the family and living in an apartment in a retirement home in Menlo Park, three hundred miles to the north.

"Because," Bert told him. "It's all well and good to understand the past, both yours and other people's, but it's what you make of it in the future that counts."

"And what do you expect to make of it, Bert?" John asked.

Bert looked at 9-year-old Jessie who sat beside him. "I expect to make a good life, using what I've learned to get it right this time."