Four Decades of Recurring Dreams

Age Four or Five: Walking in a park in Alabama where there were lots of white marble statues. Each time I touched a statue, it would become violet in color and its eyes would open and become animated, looking in my direction.

Second and Third Grade: Sitting in my elementary school classroom alone because everyone else is at recess. I am wearing a slip and typing on an old typewriter. Someone comes in to tell me I have to go to the playground to get married and I hide in the coat closet.

High School / Early College: Standing on the beach watching a film like the old ones you remember from school in the 1970's (noisy projector, sprocket holes on the sides of the film). The film is footage of hundreds of businessmen in suits, sadly standing in line. I look away from the film and toward the beach and the men in suits are taking turns walking out into the water and floating out to sea on their briefcases. When they are out far enough, they jump off the briefcase and turn into enormous dolphins.

Just After College: I am a waitress. I walk into the restaurant and everyone I have ever met in my entire life is seated there: girls from summer camp, kids from the schoolbus, dead aunts and uncles. At a table way in the back, next to the door to the kitchen, is Jesus, sitting alone. He is dressed in leather and chains with biker logos and wears an earring.

My Thirties - Present: Hurriedly setting the table for dinner and feeling frazzled because I am running late again. In walks my dead friend Sam, who gives me a hard time because I am late for everything, including finishing our last conversation. Sam has gotten balder and fatter since his death - as if he has aged in the Afterlife. He sits at the table and I wake up.