Vision Echoes: Where Every Echo Tells a Story

But he knew it was not a "king" or a "queen" he would serve; he did not want to be one's equal. He wanted to serve someone worthy of loyalty and who did not need or want it but would accept it from someone like himself.

Jackson found that person in Janice, who was unassuming and liked everyone but did not need anyone or attention. She preferred to take care of others, helping her large family, who all lived in the area. Janice was the go-to person when an elderly distant aunt needed a ride to a doctor's appointment.

When Jackson first met Janice, both were alone. Neither was really looking for anyone; they were both comfortable being themselves until someone worthy came along.

It seemed somewhat obvious to both when they first met at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Janice had been there longer and in a supervisory position. Jackson had reason to interact with Janice, as she was the appropriate person with whom to discuss reports of various security issues.

As they grew more comfortable with each other, Jackson, not knowing anything about Janice's personal life—if she was married or divorced or even had children—simply offered something different.

Jackson did not want to "check into" Janice or learn anything about her; he just wanted to ask her out and see what would happen.

Janice felt comfortable answering all of Jackson's questions, and when he proposed the idea of them meeting away from work, Janice simply said, "Sure." Jackson asked if a kiss would be appropriate if they planned for it to happen at their first meeting, and she agreed. Jackson asked Janice if they should plan it for that weekend, and Janice approved enthusiastically.

After their first kiss, Jackson promised her loyalty if she were willing to accept it, and she agreed.

Jackson asked Janice if she was comfortable with the idea of him serving her, always putting her needs first. When she asked about his needs, Jackson truthfully said he did not really have any, other than to see her happy. Janice felt he was being authentic.

Janice had good reason to be skeptical, having never met another man like this, but over time, as Jackson acted the same day after day, never changing his demeanor, she lost all doubt.

Over the next ten years, Jackson and Janice never once fought, so they did not know how it felt. But they did know how lucky they were to have this level of trust and happiness.

During these ten years Jackson continued to believe that Janice was probably an angel, having been born on Earth to normal parents, with some future purpose to be revealed.

Jackson continued to express this to Janice, who was not convinced but could certainly see why he felt that way.

One story about Janice that Jackson told to everyone he met concerned a gesture she made one night when they were out walking in Bedford Falls.

As they walked, hand-in-hand, a younger woman passing on the sidewalk stopped Janice and asked about her belt. Janice told her a little bit about it, and the woman asked where she could get one. Janice, feeling bad now, told her that it was handmade and one of a kind but that she could have it if she wanted it. The woman, shocked and unsure of what to do, replied that she did not want to take Janice's only belt, and a homemade one at that. Janice replied, "I want you to have it if you like it and want to wear it. I think it would look good on you."

Jackson observed many other instances like that when Janice would give something away to someone who wanted it.

Jackson could also see that when these people received these gifts, they looked at Janice with the awareness that they were in the presence of someone or something very different.

And Jackson continues to this day to express his sincere appreciation for Janice for her choosing him and allowing him to be her servant.

Janice now understands what a general is, and she knows she has one.

Janice began to slowly accept the possibility of Jackson being correct about her being an angel simply because of his desire to serve her. Why would any human man want to serve a woman unless she actually were different?

Janice secretly wanted to be an angel; her childhood dreams were fantastic and hard to understand. But even more so, if she were an angel, for the general's sake, she tried hard to be "the empress of angels," the greatest of all female angels on Earth.

What better goal could a person have?

(Still on the hill in the car, and after careful consideration, Janice thinks the time is right to share some of her dreams with Jackson.)

(Jackson would carefully document these stories in his journal the first chance he got)

Janice: "General, maybe it's time I tell you about some dreams from my childhood?"

Jackson: (not surprised but eager since he had waited so long to hear these) "I will listen like you are making the only sound in the world."

Janice: "When you called me 'Empress of Angels' a little while ago... it wasn't the first time I've heard that expression. I heard it once in a dream when I was young."

Jackson: "Dreams can be very revealing; please continue."

Janice: "The first dream I can recall was about a boy I saved from being hit by a bus. In the dream, I felt like a superhero, and I realized the boy who was riding his bike down a hill toward a road couldn't see the bus coming around the corner. As I watched from behind, I could see he was biking so fast and recklessly that he would cross right out in front of the bus. I flew down beside him and held out my hand to him. He took my hand, and I lifted him to safety just before he reached the road. The dream ended shortly after that."

Jackson: "Well, superhero girl, you do realize that was very similar to my skateboard dream, right?"

Janice: "Yes, I can see that, but it gets better. My next dream was about a skateboarder and a bus. And yes, I got to be the superhero again. This time, it seemed to be the same bus that was going to run over the boy biking down the hill in my dream years earlier. But in this dream, I couldn't get on the bus, and I needed to, so I opened all the windows from the outside, got inside, and picked that bus right up and took it into the sky. It was very windy inside the bus when it all happened, and I recall the look on some of the kids' faces, who appeared to be my age."

Jackson: "Well, that's two of my dreams you may have intruded on."

Janice: "I know; it gets crazier. A couple of years later, I had another dream, of me a little older as a teenager, and I was the director of a play. In the play, there was a scene in a house, and it was stormy outside. On the stage, we had to create the appearance of rain, so we had some extras high on ladders with squirt guns, and they were spraying water all around. It looked ok with minimal lighting, but it was also an accident waiting to happen. When I saw one of them falling from the top of the ladder, I again did my superhero bit and flew over to help him before he fell. It worked out. I held out my hand, and he took it. The play I was directing was Wuthering Heights."

Jackson: (smiling now and eyes a little watery) "We're going to be great together, aren't we?"

Janice: "Of course we are; now listen. You're going to go crazy after I tell you this dream, so please contain yourself."

Jackson: "I'm excited!"

Janice: "A couple years after that dream when I was directing the play, I was almost out of high school, and I had a dream I was Linda McCartney, and I was playing in the band Wings on stage."

Jackson: "Well, that's a tremendous coincidence considering the dream I had!"

Janice: "That wasn't the big part: in the dream, I thought I was singing to someone in the audience and holding out my hand to him."

Jackson: "This is amazing! But it only confirms all my beliefs about you."

Janice: "I know! But there is one more dream I had."

Jackson: "Tell me it was at the Museum of Art, and you can fly me away right now!"

Janice: "Not even close. But even stranger. After I left high school, I had one final dream you need to hear. In the dream, I believe I was posing for a sculptor. I'm fairly sure the artist who was sculpting me was Michelangelo. And what's even more bizarre, I was holding a baby while he sculpted us."

Jackson: "So let me see if I have all this: we both had dreams in our preadult years, five to be exact, and we each had one about a skateboard, a bus, Wuthering Heights, Linda McCartney and Wings, and Michelangelo?"

Janice: "That seems to be the case, yes."

Jackson: "There must be a reason for all of this."

Janice: "I agree, and now I feel like creating a couple more songs."

Jackson: "Well, you know I play guitar and create my own melodies. Wanna play together?"

Janice: "I would like that very much, and I think we could make some beautiful music together."

(Janice and Jackson did play together, and they did create some amazing music. Later in this story, you will hear about Janice being requested to perform anytime they visited the Roadhouse, and always remember, anytime Janice did something, she always took Jackson along. Jackson's guitar could harmonize perfectly with Janice's voice, or maybe it was the other way around, but he also created his own unique tone, and when he played, it was like hearing the mature Randy Rhoads had Randy lived a full life.)