The Man of Her Dreams. Literally.

As a young, widowed, single mom, Arlene James didn't think she would remarry. She was occupied with other things, mostly her baby boy and her anger at God. After the death of her soldier husband, she could not force herself to walk through the door of a church. She couldn't even pray, and she didn't want to talk about it, not even with her beloved grandmother.
Her baby turned into a toddler. Suddenly one evening in October as she put him to bed, she realized that they had it pretty good. Her son was happy and healthy. They had a fine home in Duncan, Oklahoma, and steady income, supportive friends and family. So why wasn't she happy? Eventually she knew that she would never be happy as long as she remained angry with God. At long last she hit her knees and felt an enormous weight lift.
A few nights later, she had a vivid dream. In the dream, a huge hickory tree in the backyard fell on the swing set that her son so enjoyed. Somehow she saw it fall from inside the house and ran to the backdoor in a panic, only to realize that she could hear her son speaking with someone. In the illogical way of dreams, she ran to the window and looked out, seeing her son walking away hand-in-hand with a tall, slender man with long, dark, curly hair, glasses and a beard. Horrified, she darted from window to window in the house, watching this stranger walk away with her son. Finally, they turned to wave and smile at her, and somehow she knew it was okay. Relief overwhelmed her, and that was that, until...
She walked into the kitchen one morning the next week and saw through the window that the tree had fallen on the swing set! Even though she knew her son still slept soundly, she felt the same panic as in her dream and immediately called her grandmother to tell her all about it. Again, that seemed to be that, until...
Not long afterward, she went to visit her friend, Clora. She was sitting at the kitchen table, listening to the kids play, when Clora's cousin walked in. The instant she saw him, Arlene gasped, knocked over her coffee, and burst into tears. He was, literally, the man in her dream. Everyone thought she was upset because she'd spilled her coffee. Panicked, she left as soon as she gracefully could.
The stranger, however, got her phone number from his cousin. At first she refused to talk to him, but he showed up with Clora weekend after weekend, despite living 200 miles away, and gradually Arlene began to speak with him. Jim had finished his bachelor's degree after 8 years in the Navy and was working on his master's while holding down a full-time job in Tulsa.
The night of her son's 3rd birthday, December 26, Jim showed up at her house. Like a bad door-to-door salesman, he stuck his foot in the door and said, "Now, you know we're supposed to be getting married." Again, she burst into tears. Chuckling, he put his arms around her. They talked for hours, and she agreed to marry him.
Everyone who knew them was appalled. They hadn't even dated! So they dated. On their first date, they took her son to see Cinderella at the movie theater. The boy was calling him Daddy by the end of the evening.

They married on April 16, Good Friday, at Arlene's home church in Comanche, Oklahoma. 42 years ago. Arlene will always believe that God gave her this dear man in a dream.