One, I have never stood on the Charles Bridge in Prague where my Great Grandfather proposed to my Great Grandmother in the early 1880s.
I cannot imagine how romantic that must have been. I can see her beautiful little face looking up into his dark handsome eyes. I have their love letters still in a box in Illinois.
Two, I have never been to the Douro Valley to see the vineyards and taste the port, while wearing a new sun-dress, a straw hat and sandals.
For some reason, I like port and sunshine. Don't you?
Three, I have never been to Iceland, which for some reason I have always wanted to visit. Maybe I have Vikings for ancestors.
I have always wanted to fly into the northern lights. Is that possible? I have seen the northern lights in the Midwest, Canada and Alaska.
Are these different in Iceland?
Four, standing in the snow looking up at Fountains Abbey, my favourite place in England, is something I would love to do as I have only been there in the summer.
Fountains is my spiritual home.
However, one can forgo certain places and treats in order to pursue the inward life.
And, after all, we are here to prepare ourselves for eternity.
Five, I have never had a blue rose.
I am not sure how a glass of port in a comfortable spot at the edge of the valley on a hot afternoon, or trucking around glaciers and staring at the northern lights, or watching the lights reflect off the Moldau River, listening to strains of Dvorak, or holding a blue rose would get me merit in heaven. But, all is good in the Lord.
Goodbye to all that.....and goodbye to dreams.
I must dream new dreams.
I wonder of what the saints dreamt?
Do you think St. John Nepomuk dreamt of Prague?
Or did St. Thorlac Thorhallson dream of the northern lights?
Did St. Elizabeth of Portugal ever taste port or dream of the mountainous valleys?
Did St. Robert of Newminster dream of Fountains? I think he did. He planned Fountains.
New days, new nights, new dreams.