When I get to Heaven

When I get to heaven, I shall spend my first thousand years as a toddler. I shall have a head full of red curly hair, and spend all my time playing at the feet of God. He shall reach down often to run his fingers through my curls. Often, and for no good reason, he shall pick me up and look long and sweetly into my face. Sometimes he’ll raise me up and sit me on his shoulders, where I will ride for as long as I want. And while I am up there He shall declare, loudly, for all to hear, “Behold, this is my daughter, in whom I am well pleased.”I shall sit at the head of the table, for it is written, “He who is first, shall be last, and he who is last shall be first.” At every meal, a feast shall be laid before me and I shall eat until I am full. The table shall be spread with all kinds of flowers, nuts and fruits, and only the finest china and crystal. I shall eat Petto de Pollo al champagne, Lobster fra Diavola, Shrimp a la Grecque, and Mud Pie or Persimmon Pie, garnished with whipped cream and nutmeg, for dessert.I shall have a beautiful body and wear it unafraid. I shall sleep in the Garden of Eden, under the stars, and never worry about anything bothering me while I sleep.I shall wear dragonflies and colorful beetles as jewelry. My pets shall be Egrets.I shall meet all the people I have ever admired – Richard Wright, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Corrie Ten Boom, Martin Luther King, Jr., Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Leonardo da Vinci, Betty Freidan, and Margaret Mead. They shall tell me they have been waiting for me and we will spend as long as we want, discussing ideas as equals.Mozart, Verdi, and Paul Schwartz shall compose beautiful music for me.The men in Heaven shall all be handsome, sensitive, excellent listeners, and loving. If there is any work to do, it will ALL be done by men, cheerfully and competently.And when my earthly father pleads with me, “Just dip your finger into a bowl of water and lower it to my lips,” I shall say, “Do I know you.”
I testified at a grand jury at age 14 and sent a man to prison.I am a former foster child. I was broke and homeless at age 18.During the Vietnam War, I served in the Woman’s Army Corp.At the Presidio of Monterey, I insisted on going to the firing range with the men in my company, who were all required to qualify on the M16.Women were not required to qualify on weapons, but I earned an expert medal.I became a Chinese Mandarin interpreter, married a man who also spoke Chinese Mandarin and moved to Taiwan, the Republic of China, at 19 years old.During the year and a half that I lived there, I owned a monkey.I had my tailor make matching dresses for me and the monkey.In my 20’s, I rode a motorcycle as my primary mode of transportation.At age 28, I was the first person in my family to graduate from college.At 32, I bought a house for my daughter and I in Roanoke, Virginia.That house had a ghost that Jacqui and I called “Uncle Bill.”I learned to sew at age 14.Since then, I have made hundreds, maybe even thousands of garments,including stoles that my husband wears while leading worship services as a Lutheran Pastor.I earned a Master of Arts in Liberal Studies at North Carolina State University,studying Creative Writing and Women and Gender Studies.I wrote a memoir called Thorny Ground.I demand beauty and order in my environment, and listen to New Age Music almost all the time.I am a disabled veteran, now, but before I learned about the disability,I worked as a Programmer/Analyst in Investments for 24 years.I created a revolutionary design for a databasethat was used to invest $25M-$200M every business day. Despite my disability, I protect the interest of abused and neglected children as a Guardian Ad Litem.I love to scrapbook and do it as much as I can find time for.I am a feminist and an independent voter.Thank you, God for making me, ME!I wouldn’t want to be anybody else.