It was one of those relaxed, sociable evenings. Conversations varied around the table. Charlotte and I were sitting at our regular Mexican haunt, a couple of friends with a couple of margaritas. I don’t know exactly how it came up, but at one point I commented that I’d been in the wrong line when boobs were handed out. Char’s reply was “I’d trade my boobs for your shoulders!” and we laughed at ourselves.

That night, I had a strange dream.

Souls were lined up in heaven, waiting to be born. I was among kindred spirits, listening with half an ear as a rather large archangel made assignments as the line moved forward.

“OK, you’re ready to go! Move to the right, please, for the soon-to-be-born. Next!!”

The Kindred Spirits and I were listening as we moved towards the archangel. Who – oh, it’s Gabriel. Michael was no doubt fighting Satan at the moment. We watched as more souls were assigned certain attributes and were directed to the soon-to-be-born line and the wait-until-later line.

“Next!” The soul in front of me moved forward, and I could hear Gabriel’s voice.

“God gives you the gifts of intelligence, fortitude, strength, beauty and faith. You will serve the Almighty in many ways, in a woman’s body. Plus, you get blonde hair, blue eyes and boobs.”

I heard the soul ahead of me take a deep breath. “Umm, shoulders?” she asked.’

“Shoulders?” said Gabriel. “Look, you’ll also make many dear friends throughout your life, and have a loving family.  But it doesn’t say anything here about shoulders. NEXT!” A nearby cherubim directed the soul to the soon-to-be-born line.

I moved forward.

“God gives you the gifts of intelligence, a love of music, and a pretty voice. You will serve the Almighty in many ways, in a woman’s body. You get fine hair and blue eyes, but you’ll be a chubby adolescent. Just don’t start smoking and you’ll be fine.”

“Umm, boobs?” I asked, holding my not-yet-existent breath.

“Boobs?” said Gabriel. “Hmmm, boobs not listed here. But you’ll have a loving family and make some great friends. Tell you what, we’re out of boobs, but I can give you some great shoulders. When you start crocheting all the shawls you’re gonna make, you’ll have the shoulders to drape ‘em on. NEXT!” The cherubim pointed me toward the wait-until-later line. I went, wondering when and if in life I would encounter the soul who’d been in front of me. As I went, I heard Gabriel’s words to the soul who’d been behind me. She, too, would be a woman of intelligence and faith. Gabriel’s words began to fade away as I moved to the waiting area, but I heard “…and you will rescue many cats. NEXT!” I wondered, again, when I’d encounter these and other Kindred Spirits.

I awoke with the words of Gabriel fading into the mist of a dream. As I rolled over to be greeted with a slurpy good morning from the dog (who had snuggled between me and my still-slumbering spouse), I wondered if Gabriel had said anything to me about dogs, husband and children. Probably not, no sense in spoiling the surprises that life brings. But hey, it was a dream, wasn’t it?

Wasn’t it?