A Dream....

It finally happened.

I had a dream about my Dad.

I haven't had a dream about him since he passed away....But early this morning I was having a dream that I was in a restaurant with a group of people.  I was talking with someone that was trying to present themselves in a way to be very impressive and then through conversation I figured out that I knew them from a job that I used to have and they weren't as impressive as they were putting on....In fact they had completely misrepresented themselves.

I got up and went to the restroom and when I came back out, everyone was leaving.  I was looking down gathering my things when I heard my Dad's voice.

He said my name and when I looked up in shock, there he was across the room.  He looked at me and smiled in a way that was acknowledging of my surprise, as if to say,

"Yes, it's really me."

He was extremely thin ~ the way he was before he passed away, and yet his face held brightness and energy.  He was wearing something strange that while the rest of my dream is clear and vivid, I struggle to recall & describe.  It wasn't normal clothing, but instead something almost robe-like that was belted.  It accentuated how thin he was, and yet it didn't seem unusual in my dream.   When I ran across the room and hugged him, his embrace was strong and tight.  The way it was years before he passed away.

It felt so good.  And so real.

And then, it was like it was too good ~ my brain had to remind myself that it wasn't real ~ and like a nightmare, I startled awake.  Wishing very much that I hadn't, and that I could have enjoyed the company of my Dad a little longer.

I laid in bed telling myself the dream over and over so I wouldn't forget any of the details....and I was too afraid I'd forget so I couldn't fall back asleep.  So I decided to come downstairs and start my new year with a fire and a quiet house and record these details because even though it wasn't real, it felt meaningful.

I can't think of a better way to start 2012, than with a hug from my Dad.