When I was a little boy, I would play outside for hours on sunny summer days and then have a deep and peaceful sleep at night. Sometimes, I’d have some vivid dreams, and they made me ________ for a moment. I would look out into the darkness to ________ if anything was there and then ________ over and go back to sleep. I can still remember a few times when I ________ up, looked out into the darkness, and actually saw someone there. It was Mom ________ me as I slept. Each time she ________ told me to go back to sleep and I closed my eyes again, feeling ________ and loved.

I never asked Mom why she watched me sleep from time to time, but after seeing my own children ________ so fast, I think I know why. She wanted to ________ a moment in time and hold it in her heart forever. I just ________ that she carried a lot of those moments with her into Heaven when she ________ at only 55.

Last night I was sleeping lightly ________ I suddenly felt someone near me. I opened my eyes and saw Mom’s figure standing in the room, smiling at me. And then she was gone.

Now some may say that this was just a dream, a wish or part of an old ________. To me, though, it ________ that Mom’s loving spirit was still watching over me.

Trust in their love. Know that your own life can be full of ________, too. Then joyfully go out and live it with a brave heart and a smiling soul.