Hi, Dad!

The other night, I woke up in tears. I couldn't have been happier. I was so very sad.

It is not unusual for me to have a dream or two a year about my dad who has been gone for 28 years now. This dream was unusual.

One of the things that I miss are the distinct memories of dad's expressions, movements, mannerisms, and such. I feel like I have lost much detail in those areas. The dream addressed those losses in a magnificent way.

The details that I lacked were very clear in the dream, to the extent that in the dream I took notes so I could remember them better, knowing that the dream would end. When I touched his hair and noted that it was not as gray as when he was in the hospital dying, the dream ended and the notetaking began. I awoke and wrote three pages of notes--details about wrinkle lines, smiles, gait and much more. The dream was a gift; the notes are a treasure.

I've never fully understood dreams (who does?), and many of my art heroes (like Edward Weston) struggled with comprehending the messages in dreams. This one was no struggle and the message was clear: "No need to ever forget." That's a happy thought.