Chapter 47

     Hugo and I would work together on various maintenance projects.  We would meet up at the apartment building, and this one particular time I was looking all over for him but could not find him.  His car was there but no sign of Hugo.  Finally, I went down to the basement and there he was, relieving himself in the maintenance sink, thinking no one else was around.  I was going back out, but he heard me and started talking about our project as he finished.  

     It was then that I saw Hugo, as the owner gentleman, nearing the end of his days.  He had worked as a professor at the University teaching architecture and had designed this building himself.  He built it and knew every square inch of it, and I am sure had years of memories there.  I wondered what his legacy would be when he was gone. 

     Having served his community all those years, he was kind and kept his rents moderate, as opposed to the many others around him who milked every dime out of their tenants.  He had not been feeling well, and I prayed for him before dozing off to sleep that night. 

     The dream I had that night was just a picture, a snapshot in time.  There had been an earthquake, and the top front half of Hugo’s apartment building had broken off and was lying in a heap of rubble on the ground in front of the building. 

     Looking to my right, I saw a man standing and looking at the damage.  He was an older man, bald and somewhat heavy set.  I looked more closely at him and saw that it was myself, only much older.  I knew instantly, when I would get to that age, an earthquake would hit Bozeman and cause this sort of damage.  No minor quake for sure. 

     Living in Missouri, my greatest fear was tornados.  Living in Montana, my greatest fear was earthquakes.  However, after having that dream, I did not fear an earthquake anymore as the dream left me believing there would not be a severe one until I was much older. 

     The Challenger space shuttle exploded during take-off in 1986.  Seven astronauts perished in the accident including the schoolteacher, who had won a trip on the shuttle, making her the first civilian teacher in space.

     It was a horrible tragedy, and the nation mourned its losses.

     About a month after the incident, I took to prayer for the families of the seven lost, as I felt a burden for them.  Upon completing the prayer, the Holy Spirit said to me, “There will be another shuttle accident but on re-entry”.

     This was gut wrenching, and I was a bit upset thinking there was very little I could even do about it. It made me wonder why he had told me that.  But I did say a prayer for them and kept my eye on every space shuttle return from that day forward.