Im going to repost this story for all of you out there who have lost your parents and are blessed to have them visit you in your sleep- Dreams are the windows that connect our worlds-pay attention in your sleep and you just may receive a message from someone long dead and gone- Mary Romero DuncanCarlos Sandoval BEEP!!!BEEP!!!BEEP!!!BEEP!!!BEEP!!!BEEP!!!BEEP!!!BEEP!!! My alarm sounds... I hit the snooze... And drift off back to sleep. Back to the comfort of that ethereal netherworld where my memories are stored... Back to the dream that was chased away by the piercing screech of my banshee alarm clock... The images slowly reform, only slightly altered from the previous play... Vaguely familiar...I’ve dreamt this before. Curious to see how this dream will end. I find myself walking on a trail on a warm summer day, on a verdant mountain with the sun in my eyes. I’ve got to get home, been gone so long... My dead Mother is cooking dinner for me and my dead Father in a kitchen in a house that no longer exists. My Mom was almost always cooking and so most of my memories are of her doing just that. As I approach the yard I see my Dad... “Hi Mijo!” He says. “Hi Dad!” I respond with a hug. “What are you working on?” I ask. My Dad was always working on one of his myriad projects. He grew up on a ranch in Guadalupita New Mexico, and taught himself everything from playing the guitar, pouring concrete, electrical, wood working, welding, auto mechanics, the list goes on and on. Everyday he occupied his time doing any one or more of those things. Then my nephew comes out of the house and exclaims, “Mom said come and eat!” But as we turn to walk to the front door I’m jolted back to reality. BEEP!!!BEEP!!!BEEP!!!BEEP!!!BEEP!!!BEEP!!!BEEP!!!BEEP!!! I hit the snooze... And drift off back to sleep. Trying to reconnect the broken dream that I’ve dreamt before... Vaguely familiar...Only sometimes I’m not on a mountain, I’m walking on a street and its raining and cold. Or I’m driving to work, late, and somehow inexplicitly end up in my parents driveway. Sometimes my Dads not outside, sometimes he’s alone, and sometimes he has company. “Vente a comer Johnny Boy! Your Mommas cooking!”... Coming Grandma, be right there... “Andale right now! “Ow Grandma! Dont pinch me im coming! I guess I enjoy visiting my parents so much cause its the only place I get to interact with my deceased loved ones... As a kid everyone in my family called me “Johnny Boy” but to everyone else I was John or Johnny. Even when I was grown and married and a father I was still “Johnny Boy” to my parents and grandparents and aunts and uncles... Most of them are gone now, so its comforting to me to hear them say my name during our brief visits. It’s so nice to see their smiling faces and hear those familiar voices. They look just like they did when I seen them last... On occasion I’ll be surprised by a new face greeting me at my parents front door...a long forgotten person that I knew from school or an old neighbor. Or sometimes I’ll take the living with me to visit and mingle with the dead at my parents house... “Mom, There’s someone I want you to meet” “Ohhhh! So youre the girl my sons been talking about!?” Come in!! Come in!!” “Johnny Boy was right you are beautiful!! Come on in and meet the family” “This is my Dad, and my Grandma and Grandpa” “Hello, Mucho gusto... Hablas espanol? Si!!, Que bueno... “Johnny Boy! Look who came to see you...” I turn around to see...Full of anticipation... But I’m jolted back to reality. BEEP!!!BEEP!!!BEEP!!!BEEP!!!BEEP!!!BEEP!!!BEEP!!!BEEP!!! I turn off the alarm... No time left to snooze. Another day has birthed and I have to go to work. The dream lingers with me for a while. The sweet memories swirl around in my head till they slowly fade, filed away in the lonely crevices of my imagination....I wait in anxious anticipation of who I’ll run into next...Hopefully the dreams will come earlier in the night, before the snooze shatters my momentary peace. I never remember any of the nights previous dreams. Maybe the most important memories take longer to compile and so there are none...But maybe tonight, if I’m lucky, I’ll resurrect the dead again... And if I’m luckier, I’ll finally get to actually sit down at the table with my family and taste my Mothers cooking one last time.
Posted on: Wed, 12 Mar 2014 06:19:42 +0000