Whispered Dreams.

For many years, my mom has had the same picture frame mounted on one of her bedroom walls— an art piece of golden trees arching over a pathway of what looks like an entrance to a park. Ever since she put that frame up, she would always tell me how she has dreamed of visiting a location that looked just like it. Ever since she’s spoken those words to me, I’ve carried it along with me knowing it would become a reality one day.

If I can tell you something about my mother, it would be that she is a person who truly deserves everything the world has to offer. From raising 3 children, being an attentive wife, and making sure everyone who’s close to her is loved and supported, I can say she is one of the most selfless people I have ever met. I can assure you that there is no other person that I know that can amount to how much my mom had to go through over the years and yet still remained firm and diligent in all that she does.

To say the least, she’s more than amazing, and I hope to be just like her when I myself become a mother.

Over the years, I have gone through a phase in my life where I just want to explore and discover new areas. As a matter of fact, I always considered moving someplace else because I don’t feel as if Miami is the place for me anymore. My mom is fully aware of this, and throughout my many adventures of traveling to different places, North Carolina has always had a special place in my heart.

I decided to book a trip back to NC as a surprise for my mom to finally see the fall colors she’s always wanted to see. Due to her busy schedule and all that she does outside of work, she’s never had the opportunity to go experience what it would be like to see autumn in a place outside of Miami. It’s been something she’s wanted for several years, and out of gratitude of all she’s done for me, I felt it was only right to honor her in a way that would seem like a whispered dream of hers come true.

On the day of our flight to Charlotte, NC, my mom was super giddy knowing she was about to see something she’s never seen before. Just seeing her reaction every time our plane approached our destination filled my heart with so much joy because I myself felt exactly what she was feeling. To her she would experience something new, but as for me it felt as if I was returning to what feels would be my future home. We started off our day going to a local breakfast spot and began conversing on what this trip would embark. While my mom spoke to me about what she would like to see, I had a lot of things pre-planned just for her.

During our ride through the city, my mom would gasp at how beautiful the different colors the trees’ leaves were. Her smile was so big that she herself couldn’t believe what she was looking at. We managed to stop by a CVS to grab a few essentials when we spotted a bright orange tree that caught both of our eyes. My mom is usually the type to just take a picture and move on when she saw something she liked, but instead she went up to the tree and touched one of the leaves as if she wouldn’t believe it was true unless she physically felt it. To see her do that made me want to cry because even such a small moment like that demonstrated how appreciative she was for the little things.

As soon as we finished our little errand, we ventured off to Blue Ridge Parkway to see more of the colors and the beautiful landscape of the mountains ranging from east to west.

While we drove up the parkway, we eventually took a break and stopped at an area where we could overlook the environment due to the elevation level we were at. It wasn’t until then when I realized I left my camera’s SD card at home but managed to capture some shots using the self timer feature on my phone.

Nothing looked more beautiful than seeing the different colors of the trees radiate right before your eyes. As my mom stated while we looking out, she described how she can imagine God Himself painting all these trees different colors as a gift for us, as a reminder that He’s the greatest artist there is.

We managed to drive up the parkway for quite some time before deciding to head back down to get to our Airbnb for our next plan of the day. After 2 hours of driving, we arrived to our place of stay and began getting ready for our next outing. What I had planned was to take my mom out to a nice restaurant and treat her to a nice dinner. A reservation was set for the both of us to eat in view of the city’s skyline. At this point I didn’t really care about the cost of the meals because I wanted the dinner to be special for her; after all, my mom is a queen as I always call her and she should always be treated like one.

Waking up early the next morning was a bit of a challenge for us since we were so used to sleeping in a bit on Saturday mornings, but we had to get ready for another adventure ahead of us. My mom loves the mountains as much as I do, so we took the initiative to hike up Crowders Mountain as our early morning adventure. We met up with a group of people who also took the initiative to hike and wanted to get in touch with nature. The path we were supposed to go on was closed off so we had to find an alternative to make the hike happen. Our tour guide was quick to direct us to another access point and we were able to do what we were supposed to do.

As we went up in elevation, my mom began to feel dizzy and wasn’t able to complete the hike. I wasn’t sure if it’d be safe for her to continue, but she encouraged me to keep going even if it meant leaving her behind. Fortunately, another person in the group was able to stay behind along with her and she managed to make a new friend as a positive outcome to that. Little did she know, that same person also lived in Miami, in the same area we live in, so that made things a whole lot better for her.

As I reached the mountaintop along with the other group members, I felt God giving me peace about my mom being left behind. I knew she was under His care and it felt as if God was reminding me again of how great and grand He is. Never in my mind did I doubt how much more He can create with just speaking things into existence when I saw the array of colors set out before my eyes. It was there when I realized how God can also place specific people in your path at the right timing to share more of His greatness.

If only my mom saw exactly what I was seeing, but I knew deep down that she was already content with what she’d seen so far.

After some time at the mountain’s peak, it was time to go back down and meet up with my mom at the bottom. We found each other, and she was smiling as always. That alone made me smile from ear to ear.

The reason as to why she was happy is because the new friend she made recommended her to go to Billy Graham’s Library which was only about 20 mins away from where we located in.

A little backstory on why this seems relevant to what I’m about to say is that my mom and I actually used to watch Billy Graham preach on TV a long time ago. I remember the many times I couldn’t fall asleep as a child and would find myself going to the living room and join my mom to watch Billy speak. As much as my mom knew little to no English, she would always manage to watch a full sermon and understand what was being said. What I remember most from those particular nights was laying on my mom’s lap while she scratched my head until I fell asleep.

From that time forward, my mom and I would easily bond over small moments like that. To be honest, I actually forgot about that memory until my mom mentioned Billy’s name and told me how badly she wanted to see his library. I decided it would be a good idea to go visit since we still had a lot of time left before going to a church service we both wanted to go to.

From what I can remember, just stepping on the premises of the library allowed us to feel a peace we both immersed ourselves in. There was so much to see regarding Billy’s life and what he’s done that made us appreciate more of how God can use a person to work for His greater good.

As we stepped out and walked around the garden, something in the sky caught our attention. We saw a bird circling above our heads. To be exact, it was a white bird, maybe a dove, that hovered over us in complete circles. My mom was in awe of that sight and commented how “this was the best gift ever given to her”.

Again, my heart felt so full knowing she was enjoying every minute here in Charlotte.

We then managed to look at the time and decided to go back to the Airbnb to get ready for the church service we both wanted to go to—at Elevation Church to be exact.

Elevation Church is the church where the worship songs we sing at our church back home originated from. Excited to experience what it would be like to go there, we were coincidentally greeted by a woman who was in the same position my mom and I were in. She was feeling stuck in letting her daughter go and my mom has been hesitant on the idea of me leaving Miami for Charlotte.

The woman explained to my mom that she lived in Miami for a long time before moving to Charlotte years after her daughter first made the move. Since then, she stated how she didn’t regret leaving Miami for a city like Charlotte and how she is in full support of me making this decision if it’s according to God’s will.

My mom felt a bit skittish at first when the woman was explaining to her about the same situation, but later grew to realize again how it is a part of life to let go of what you love for the better. We then went inside, worshipped along with the other people and heard the word that was being preached. My mom and I both enjoyed the service and talked a bit more about what happened throughout the day as a summary of the day’s highlights.

The next day, we were actually supposed to venture down to South Carolina to go visit a friend of ours, but we ended up not going. Instead, our Sunday was set out to be a very relaxed day. While we were both feeling exhausted due to the many activities we did prior, we stayed indoors and rested all we could before heading over to the mall for some quick shopping.

On the last day of our trip, we wanted to make a memorable memory together so we ended up going to a small park in downtown to walk around and enjoy the nice cool breeze.

While walking through the streets and roaming around, I would catch my mom picking up leaves that were left on the floor. I asked her why she would pick them up and she responded with, “I’m going to miss this charming place. I want these as a reminder of where we went to.”

I couldn’t help but hug her, and I began taking pictures of her holding up those leaves she picked up and continued walking around.

We saw four trees all displaying a different color right before us. From yellow, to slightly greenish, to orange, and red, it was a sight we both stayed lingering on.

My mom looked so happy gazing at those trees, and in just a small second after, she stated, “I can see you living here, Emily. I think this is it.”

I wasn’t expecting her to say that.

After years of wrestling with the idea of me moving away and having her deny the fact that it will occur, I would’ve never thought she would finally come to the conclusion that it would happen. When she said those words, I couldn’t help but stand still. I looked at her and asked if she really meant it and she only nodded.

I think in that moment we both realized that maybe it is time for me to go sometime soon. Deep in my heart I feel like the time is growing closer when I would go and venture on my own, but as of now I feel a different type of peace knowing my mom would be okay with it.

As we walked a bit more around the park, we headed over to our last mini destination which would be at a small farm.

To tell you how exactly I felt during the encounter with the animals would be far too much to describe. I truly felt as if I’ve always belonged in an environment like this. Not necessarily in a farm, but in the setting of being around nature and tending to its needs.

I know for a fact that while my mom may still feel a bit sad over the thought of me leaving soon, I know she’s certain of how safe I’ll be. Exploring Charlotte a little bit more in depth has allowed us to create a stronger bond than what we had before.

Would I have ever imagined this would happen almost five years ago? No, but how things have turned around.

Even back when we would fight over the idea of me departing, I would never thought we’d visit what would most likely be my future home together in such a loving outlook.

Charlotte, NC has always been on my mind since I first visited. And as much as we couldn’t find those golden trees arching over the parkway just like in the art piece I stated in the beginning, I know my mom saw more than what she has ever dreamed of.

That little dream in her heart became a reality, and in mine, my dream became a reality as well.

Giving back to my mom after all that she’s done for me has made me realize that it’s all I ever wanted throughout my days in this earth. And I can tell you for a fact that this won’t be all that she will ever receive.

In conclusion, I feel like this will be my home. I 100% feel it, and I know in my mom’s heart that this is the place for me.

But until then, I will continue to pray and wait for the right timing.

So here’s to another adventure and until maybe next time, I’ll be here to stay.

xoxo,

Emily.