Well, if the dream about Mom’s severed foot wasn’t weird enough, last night I dreamt I was at Martin Luther King’s presentation of his I Have a Dream speech. The speech, however, didn’t take place at the Lincoln Memorial but rather at the college where I teach, but the rooms were slightly different. Using www.dreammoods.com, I found that dreaming about classrooms means I'm learning something about myself and experiencing personal growth.
Once I was in the room where MLK was to speak, I was walking around policing the area when I saw some men holding large rocks. I told them that they had no right to act this way toward Dr. King, and I took away their rocks. I must have been quite convincing b/c they acquiesced w/o argument. As I directed my attention to the speaker, I realized it wasn't Dr. King but was instead one of my students dressed in a bathrobe, and he was doing his presentation on King’s life. Since there were only men in this dream, the website says I need to acknowledge my authoritative and aggressive side.
Here's my interpretation of the dream. I’m guessing the dream took place at the college b/c last night while at Kenzie’s softball game I told three little boys that they needed to play outside and stop running around the inside of the college. The boys then started throwing small rocks at each other. I think these small boys w/ small rocks became the men w/ large rocks in my dream. Interpreting the meaning of the student doing his presentation in his bathrobe is a little more complex. The student in the bathrobe shows vulnerability while the topic on which he spoke shows a concern for social justice, and I think I know where that’s coming from.
I received a phone call yesterday afternoon from a young woman, I'll call her Susie, who has befriended my father. Now if your mind immediately assumed this means he has a girlfriend then shame on you. She is a married, mother of three young children who has shown only kindness and friendship to Dad when others, including family members, have avoided him. Susie called me b/c she had been told about some gossip circulating around my hometown saying she's Dad's girlfriend and that she's just trying to get into his will. Why do people have to do that? Are their own lives so boring and pathetic that they have to invent stories about other people? This is exactly what I hate about living in a small town. Susie called me to make sure that I was comfortable w/ her bringing Dad food and inviting him out to their house to grill steaks and dropping by to visit him when she picks up her children from daycare. I told her that I am so grateful for her and her friendship w/ Dad. Not for a minute did I ever consider her to be a gold digger. Damn the people who have suggested such a thing.
I think my dream was telling me that I need to take a stand and not allow this gossip to continue, but I don't know how to aggressively dictate a rebuttal w/o hurting Dad in the process. I thought about writing an editorial to my hometown newspaper, but Dad has no idea that these rumors are circulating, and he reads the paper, front to back. So for anyone who's reading this and knows my dad, please don't mention any of this to him. But I would welcome any feedback about how I should handle this, or if you know the originator of these hurtful rumors, please tell me so I can go directly to the source.
Like Susie said she's more sad than mad about all this b/c Dad has become a part of her family's lives. She looks upon Dad as a grandfather, and her kids love him just like a great grandfather. I know Dad would be devastated if this little family were to suddenly disappear from his life. I am so pissed and frustrated and very, very sad.
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