Getting ready for bed she looked at her email one last time. An ad for the 14th Annual Tribute of Jazz JAMM (Jazz Alliance of Mid Michigan) caught her attention.
Her dad was a big part of that group. He and his partner would go to the festival and paint, and donate their paintings that they painted while they were there together. The year he passed, he and his partner were to be honored but her dad passed just before the event. Her dad was honored posthumously. They had a chair with her dad’s picture on it… sad but wonderful.
The event coming up was honoring Mike Eyia, a Cuban jazz artist. Mike played guitar and sang “Into the Mystic” while accompanied by the piano from the back of the church at her dad’s service! It was sooooo beautiful and memorable.
She bought two tickets to the event and as she and her husband are driving there, she gets a call from one of her closest friends. Three girls had been best friends since sixth grade. “T” began, “I had a dream about your dad last night. I was in Las Vegas and I couldn’t find Dave, but I look on my phone and there are three recent calls. One was from you, and one was from “S” (the third of their grade-school best friends) but in the middle was this tiny line and it said James McFarland. The line was real tiny but when I pushed on it I called your dad and he answered and I said, ‘You’re kidding’.”
He said, “Hey, gal, I’ve been wondering when you were going to call me. It is so beautiful here. I can’t decide if it is hot or cold, but I have been wondering when you were going to call me. It is so nice to hear your voice. I have been hoping you were going to call me and tell me that you love me.”
Instantly they both felt the significance of the timing of the dream and the call about the dream. They were on the way to this jazz event to honor the guy who sang at her dad’s service!
Then at the event after they sat through two hours and 14 minutes of jazz from many different artists this group gets up on stage – and it’s Mike Eyia’s band. One of the guys from the band says, “This one’s for you, Mike,” and then he sings “Into the Mystic” exactly the way Mike had sung it for her dad….
She had said to herself (or to her dad) coming up to the event – “I’ll know you’re with me if they play Into the Mystic!”
(About a year after Mike sang “Into the Mystic” for her dad’s service, his own son passed. “Into the Mystic” was sung at Mike’s son’s service, too…)