In Dreams...

"A candy-colored clown they call the sandman
Tiptoes to my room every night
Just to sprinkle stardust and to whisper -
Go to sleep. Everything is all right."
Roy Orbison "In Dreams"

I guess most people dream at night (or day, depending on when they sleep, i.e. vampires), at least every so often. I feel sorry for those that never dream, as dreams can be quite entertaining, as well as enlightening. I'm not a dream expert, specialist, or doctor (is there such a thing?), but I can tell you how often I dream (often), that I dream in color (technicolor), and that I dream in "symbolism". I also dream about events that have actually occurred. Not so often, only a handful of times in my life.

I will always remember the first time this happened, of course. Actually, I should say the first time I knew it happened. This dream involved an event that happened to my brother's best friend (loved as a part of our family), living in Georgia. My brother and I were both living in Florida at the time. When I told my brother about the dream, he looked at me strangely (not necessarily an uncommon look from him), and called our friend immediately from my apartment. Long story short, I had dreamt about an event that had actually taken place a couple of days earlier. The time of day, location, etc. was right on the money. As this was something that was not meant to be of common knowledge, they knew that I really had no way of knowing this. This was in the 70's and it would be a long while before I had another dream like this. At least, of that I'm aware.

There have been a few more, but the other one that I will most likely not forget was the one in which John died.

I dreamt that I was walking down the isle leading to my office at work early one morning, when I noticed people had gathered around outside John's office. As I approached, I asked someone what had happened. Someone replied, "John died." I don't remember much of the dream other than that. I went to work that morning (awake this time), and the day was really no different than any other day. In conversation with a co-worker, I mentioned the dream I had about John. I also told him that I dreamed in "symbolisms" and that the dream might not have anything to do with this particular person, and jokingly suggested that he be careful going out to lunch. Much to my relief, the day passed with no one, especially not John, dying.

The next morning, I came in earlier than usual to work. The secretary came into my office, knelt down and whispered, "did you hear what happened to John?" When I answered that I had not, she said, "He committed suicide last night!" I just sat and stared at her. As much as I was naturally shocked, of course, she had no idea about the dream I had the night before. As I said earlier, I dream in "symbolisms". The John who had died was not the one across from me, but the one downstairs, with which I had recently worked on some reports. I heard Butch when he came into his office. I went over to him and could tell he had already heard the news. I started to speak and he said, "I don't even want to talk about it." "You scare me ...", meaning the conversation we'd had earlier.

Now, I am sharing this with you, not because I think "I'm special" (I do think my husband and Jake the beagle think this however), or because I want to change or challenge your skeptical minds. I just believe that this happens more often than people think. I think there are people that realize they have just dreamt about a very real event they had no earlier knowledge of, but choose not to comment, simply because they are afraid of being scoffed and laughed at. And of course there is the "it's just a coincidence" response as well.

I am actually rather cynical about people's intentions (comes with age I guess) and truly don't believe in all of the self-professed psychics, mediums, and intuitives. However, I know that it happens with me and therefore, I have to believe it happens with others as well.

If you have a story about a dream or recurrent dream that proves itself to be an actual event, be bold, be real, and share it with us. Maybe you know someone who has experienced this. Maybe you believe that this really happens, or maybe you think it's a "crock". That's fine if you think it's a crock. I doubt if you would find yourself on my Christmas card list, anyway.