My Dream - Dhanesh Merchant

It was August 10, 1999.
I came from work and was exhausted. Quickly, I took my dinner and sat in the armchair. In a few minutes, I went to sleep and I had a dream.
In that dream, I was in a garden sitting on a bench. The garden was full of flowers, big and small with different colors and fragrances. There was a stream and on the other side of the stream was a small library. The children and their parents coming and going out of the library with books in their hands. There was a walking trail where young couples were walking holding hands. I saw butterflies and bees zooming around those flowers. I was at a perfect place and peaceful.
The wind started blowing and the flowers were afraid for their petals. I heard a sound as if some one murmuring . I changed my position on the bench and started listening the conversation.
One flower complained, why is the gardener not visiting them. Is he sick? Each Friday, the gardener used to come and pick up flowers to take to church, hospitals, funeral homes, weddings and birthday parties. The flowers were waiting for their turn to be picked up. Few flowers were worried because they were losing their petals and if the gardener does not pick them right away, their petals will fall into the stream of water and disappear. The flowers did not like to lose their friends and fall into the stream of water.
At that moment, a small bird with golden wings flew over and sat on the branch close to those flowers. Bird saw one of the flowers weeping. Bird asked 'why are you weeping?' The flower shared its concern that it does not want to lose the petals and die. Bird replied that there is nothing eternal and every one comes and leaves this world. Enjoy your life . Be good and do good. What you carry with you is your deed (karma). All you flowers should be happy and not crying. Throughout your life, you gave fragrance in this garden, you did not harm any one, you attracted bees and helped them make honey. You gave happiness and peace to butterflies and to the people. Even if you die before being picked up, you should be proud of yourself.
All the flowers thought for a while and started smiling and decided not to cry any more. At that moment the bird flew off.
I woke up and started looking for the bird and realized that there was no garden ,no flowers, no bees and no butterflies.There was no library, no stream of water and no one besides me. It was a dream.
After few years, I retired from my work and joined East Brunswick Senior Center. One day, my wife and self went to the Municipal Pond behind the senior center and sat on a bench. All of a sudden I remembered that dream. What a coincidence, here it is a pond instead of stream, senior center instead of a garden and seniors instead of flowers. In my dream, the gardener was taking care of flowers, but here in the senior center, we have caring staff helping the seniors with solving problems, and providing activities and attending their well being.
The only thing that bothered me was 'where is the bird with golden wings?'
If any one see that bird with golden wings, please tell the bird that I want to meet him at the East Brunswick Senior Center.