Dad's Voice on the Conference Call

A Sunday morning recollection...

The picture above is of my father, circa 1986/87, speaking at my aunt’s birthday party shortly before he died of the side-effects of cancer treatment at the age of 54. It was a painful loss. It still hurts. I don't really believe the cliché, "Time heals all wounds."

My Dad, Richard Alan “Dick” Wise was my hero. At 6’9”, he was larger than life. A gentle-giant, he always had a kind and instructive word for me, with obvious exceptions. In the 80’s, he was my mentor, my biggest cheerleader, my wife’s biggest fan, and my boss. His last words to me were, "No, Mike. I'll take care of YOU."

When he died, the biggest hole in my heart was not being about to talk to him. I wished I could hear his voice just one more time.

With the non-stop video conferences during this pandemic, and perhaps inspired by a few pictures that resurfaced this week, a precious memory came back to me - a dream that happened in the late 2000’s. It was one of those dreams just before you wake up for the day.

In the dream, I was on a conference call. In those days, conference calls were still mostly voices on the phone. In the normal run of the call, one of the voices had a familiar sound. Could that be Dad, commenting on the subject matter of the call? When he finished his comment, I quickly said, “Uh, excuse me. Who was that just speaking?”

Clear as a bell, Dad's voice rang out, “This is Dick WISE!”

I shot up in bed, but not with alarm - with a feeling of sheer JOY! Tapping my wife awake, I immediately told her the story. “I heard Dad’s voice in my dream! It was a conference call and …” The urgency to share the dream was as much so I wouldn’t forget the dream as to share the joy.

You know, there's been a lot of talk about death in the last few weeks. I don’t know what happens after you die. Yes, scripture gives a lot of clues. But what I do know is this - that dream, and the pictures and recollections this week, have been a gift from God. I'm grateful.