Another Dream About Dad - Visit to Rush Limbaugh

Last night, I dreamed about Dad again.  It's the first time in a while that I had a dream about him that I so vividly remember.

In my dream, Dad was going to meet Rush Limbaugh for what seemed to be a recurring meeting.   It had been several months since they had last met.  The meeting location was in a small building at the top of a hill with several plateaus leading to the top.  I walked Dad into the building which was on the top plateau on the right side of the hill.  There were some other people in there, so I just left him there and would come back later, assuming he would meet with Rush.

When I came back, Dad wasn't there.  I was told that Rush wasn't meeting one on one anymore due to his own illness.  I looked for Dad and found him on the left side of the top plateau, further up the hill, standing on the edge of the woods.  He was the younger version of himself.  Tall and lanky.  Much like this picture from his early Navy days.

It occurred to me that I should at least get a picture of Dad and Rush, so we headed down the hill trying to find Rush Limbaugh.  But we were not successful.

At the bottom of the hill, there was a funeral going on.  A young sailor was in the casket in modern Navy attire, but it wasn't Dad.  The sailor was not lying supine, but on his side, like he was sleeping.

My sister Beverly asked me where Dad was and was worried I'd lost him.  I was worried too, as that was the 2nd time I'd lost him during this dream! Fortunately, I quickly found him again.  He was his older & bigger self again and had walked down the hills alone. I wondered how he'd done that safely, as the hills were pretty steep.  I gave him a hug and was steering him back to the funeral ceremony.

The family was walking in, including some I'd not seen since childhood.  I bumped into one who was a former spouse of my cousin Billy Wilkinson.  I believe her name was Kitty, and I think I was in their wedding as a young boy.  She didn't recognize me.  In an effort to introduce "adult me" to someone who knew me as a child, someone told her, "That was Blain."  That was the end of the dream.  Unfortunately, Dad didn't say anything during this whole dream, but it was good to see him.

I always wonder the relevance of random dreams.  Last week, my father-in-law Gerald Dillon passed away.  So maybe that was the tie-in to the funeral.  And the cat the Dillons have is named "Miss Kitty."  And in my dream, Kitty looked exactly like someone I met at Gerald's funeral - Lori's Aunt Kathy from Texas!

Everything's Going to be OK

I awoke this morning after just having another dream about my Dad.  I was running errands on Saturday and was really busy.  Lori was planning an impromptu event at the house with girls as I was out doing stuff with the guys.  I came home to get some money as I had run out.  I decided I should stay home as I had a lot to do there.  So I was laying on the couch as the party at home continued to grow.  Dad showed up wearing that red jacket he wore back when he was about 70.  He looked great and much younger, compared to the 88 I last saw.  We shook hands and his hands felt younger.  I said, "I see you're back again."  He knew what was on my mind.  He said in his usual positive calm, "I'm sure everything will work out." 

I got up and we continue to plan the party.  Mom was inviting many people even on short notice.  Dad was helping remember names.  I was on the phone with my aunt Jean, who greeted me with her usual "Well hey dawlin'!"  Everyone was very happy and the excitement was bustling.  As Dad was trying to remember names of people to call I got my phone out and pressed Record, as I wanted to capture his voice so I could listen to him when I woke up.  

I didn't hear him say too many more words before I did wake up.  My phone was on my nightstand, and there was no recording.  But this memory was good.

Sound Waves, Ice Cream, and Golf

This morning, here in Tokyo, I awoke at 5am with a song in my head and tears in my eyes from riotously laughing in the dream I just had.  I was so overcome with the vividness of the dream that I grabbed my phone and recorded my memory so I could write it later.

There was a computer or TV screen attached to a microphone.  The screen displayed the audio sound waves of whatever was playing.  There was a song playing and the waves were smooth.  Dad pointed out to me that he noticed the sound waves and wondered how that worked.  "Look at how it goes up and down," he said.  He was always curious and inquisitive about technology and wanted to understand things.

The music stopped and then there was just voice showing on the sound waves.  Probably mine or Dad's.  It was a similar shape, but different.  He asked, "Sit down, and explain it to me." 

He sat down in one of those 2 person chairs like we have in our living room, on the left side, though I didn't see him. He was there but not there.  We are both big guys and I doubt we could both fit in that chair.  Even though I couldn't see him, he took up less than half the space, and motioned for me to sit with him and explain the sound waves.

I thought for only a millisecond about passing on the opportunity to explain something else to my Dad, but decided against it.  He was happy to have me sitting there.  And I was happy to do that, and not run off and do something else.

I sat down beside him and produced a notepad where I was trying to sketch sound waves and calculate the wave period or amplitude or something (2 x pi x diameter, in my dream).  I was sketching and drawing a circle, when suddenly we were sitting in a grocery store parking lot.

An 18 wheel truck pulling one of those double trailers was barreling through the parking lot.  It rapidly turned a curve and the back trailer slid along with the front.  The driver was clearly in a hurry and driving like a race car driver.  Dad and I commented that there was probably a lot of ice cream in that truck and we sure would like some.

The next thing, Dad was commenting that he was still here and going to go play golf that day.  He knew he was no longer here in body, but was visiting and thought he would play a round while here.  I was laughing with him boisterously about this reality!  Here he was hanging out with me and talking about sound waves, ice cream, and golf.  And I said, "Thanks, Dad."

It was then I woke up, tears in my eyes from laughing so hard.  Minutes later, I recorded this story.  And minutes after that, I noticed the song in my head.  Not one I've ever particularly liked, and not even one in my song library of over 9,000 songs.  So no particular reason for that song to be in my head.  The song was "Lucky Man" by Emerson, Lake, and Palmer.  It's in my library now.