Dreams, Memories & Keys

Chapter 23 - Remembering York Part 1

"So, what's our plan?" Zack asked his sister as afternoon became evening on Christmas Day, and the Abernathys, the Coopers, the Goodmans, and Reuben prayed to welcome in the Sabbath. Christmas was on a Friday that year, and so they sat down to a simple dinner just before the sun went down. Their big dinner celebrating the holiday was shared the evening before.

"Papa and me are going to temple in the morning," Jessie replied. "Then afterwards, everybody is coming here."

"Everybody?" Susan asked.

"All of my friends, plus Dori and Xavier," Jessie said. "I've been texting them today, and they all think that since Zack and Kelly are here, and they probably won't be for Passover next spring, that we should."

"That is probably true," Susan agreed.

"When exactly are they coming, Jessie?" Greg asked.

"In the afternoon. I'm supposed to ask Mama if we could order pizza for dinner again like we did in October. That worked good. That way some of them can stay longer." Jessie explained what she'd managed to arrange in a single afternoon.

Susan exchanged a look with her husband.

"I suppose we could," she replied.

"Unless you have other plans for dinner tomorrow, we definitely can," Greg told her and Jessie. "My only regret is that I can't be here, at least not past the afternoon."

"I can't either," Shelly remarked. "My understudy got sick, so we're both working tomorrow night."

"Do you mind if I come?" Reuben asked. "I planned to be in New York the entire weekend and I could be here into the evening."

Jessie and Bert looked at one another.

"No, I don't think we mind if you come," Bert replied, answering for them both.

"What about Peter? Are you inviting him too?" Susan asked Jessie.

"Yeah. I'm not sure he can come though," Jessie told her.

"Invite his father. He has asked for the opportunity to observe this type of meeting. If he came, Peter probably could too," Greg suggested.

"Do you think it will help anybody for Reuben to be here?" Kelly wondered, looking between Zack, her brother, and Jessie.

"I don't know. I don't think he knew any of us in any life except this one," Zack remarked. "I'm not sure about Mr. Wilson." Zack regarded Greg warily.

"I am certain if he comes, he would be content to stay in the background and simply observe, if that is what you prefer," Greg offered.

"Yeah, I think that might be for the best," Zack replied.

"I'll see to it," Greg promised, and he got up briefly to leave the room.

"Which lives specifically are you working on?" Reuben asked curiously about the time Greg returned.

The four young people filled him in on the three to four lives their collective group was remembering. By the end of their tale, Reuben arched a brow looking at Greg. "Are you involved in any of this?"

"I am to some extent in the earliest life they are remembering, the one we believe took place in the 1500s in York, then again but only peripherally in the life they identify as taking place primarily in the Stone Village," Greg replied.

"Which lives were those for you?" Reuben asked.

"I lived in York for the last decade or two of my third life," Greg answered.

"Is that one when you were mis-matched from Susan?" Shelly wondered.

"It is," Greg confirmed. "However, I have learned through listening to the story of the young people that even during that life, which to me felt unproductive in a celestial sense, I was able to contribute in some small way to the Lord's plan."