Post by bobothebeaten on Sept 23, 2014 7:43:19 GMT -5
I haven’t had a dream in many years so after waking up this morning and remembering a dream I had last night was very unusual. I slept so soundly that my wife had to wake me up. I felt exceptionally good because I got sound sleep, but I couldn’t stop thinking about my dream. As the day went on I kept remembering little bits and pieces of my dream. The more I remembered the more I wanted to understand it. In past dreams I usually woke up only remembering that I had a dream, but then I couldn’t remember the specifics. I spent a good part of the day trying to analyze its meaning by associating parts of the dream with my life’s experiences. I wanted to make sense out it. While you’re dreaming everything seems to make sense at the time, but later when you’re awake you realize that things in your dream didn’t make sense at all so you just don’t think about it anymore. This dream felt different.
My dream started out with me standing on a large concrete dock somewhere off the Atlantic coast. The dock was so long that I couldn’t see the end of it in any direction. I could see the hustle and bustle of people working around the buildings and watched containers being lifted and lowered by cranes.
I wasn’t sure immediately why I was there, but my wife, kids and pets were standing huddled up a couple of steps behind me. I reached out to them, but they stayed just outside my reach. My wife and kids had tears in their eyes and the animals were whining, but they didn’t come any closer to me.
I looked up and noticed that the sky was a beautiful shade of blue and very clear. The air was pure and I took deep breaths to fill up my lungs. The air didn’t smell like salt as you would have expected, but instead it smelled like lightly scented flowers, but not over powering. That seemed unusual because I didn’t see any flowers around me. I was on a dock bordering an ocean and there was nothing but concrete and buildings all around me. There was a warm breeze and birds were flying high in the sky. I still didn’t know why I was there and for some reason I couldn’t communicate with my family. When I turned to speak to them we would just look at each other and it was if they couldn’t see me. They seemed sad and I didn’t know why.
I turned back to face the ocean and out of no where a very large ship had pulled up and docked. There were no sounds of water churning that would have been associated with a ship approaching, the water was completely calm and there were no sounds from the multiple ships engines. Slowly a ramp began extending out from the ship to where I was standing and stopped at my feet. I didn’t have any feelings of being scared, but I was still shocked that a large ship was able to dock without making any noise and I didn’t see any of the normal preparations associated with docking a ship.
Suddenly, a person in an ivory white uniform appeared and was standing on the ship at the other end of the ramp opposite me. I couldn’t see any rank, decorations, ribbons or insignia that you would have recognized as part of a military uniform, but I got the sense that the person I was looking at was in charge.
Strangely, I didn’t see anyone else on the ship or movement you would also expect to see. The person looked at me and said, “Come aboard, we have to go”. She held out one arm and motioned for me to walk up the ramp. After hearing the voice I realized that the person I was looking at was a female. As I focused on her face I could see that I didn’t recognize her. I would not have considered her attractive, but also not unattractive. She looked very confident and I felt as if I was compelled to obey her orders.
I looked back at my family again to get their impression, but while no one had moved they seemed farther away and their forms seemed to be fading. At that moment I thought I realized why I was there. Over four decades ago I had been in the USMC for four years and spent over two years at sea. Apparently, I had been re-activated and was being deployed somewhere. I wasn’t sure about going aboard so I tried yelling out questions to the woman. I wanted to know how long I would be gone and where I was going. She said that it was time to rest and that my family already knew I was gone. I thought “gone”, but I haven’t left yet. That caught me by surprise and I looked back at my family again. They had faded a little more to the point that I couldn’t recognize their individual faces.
I took a few steps up the ramp and I told the woman that I didn’t think I was the right person. I told her that I didn’t want to leave my family and that I was about to be a grand parent for the first time. I told her that they needed me and they would miss me. I told her that I didn’t think I had anything I could offer at that stage in my life. I suggested that she re-activate younger veterans. She said that there were all ages of veterans below deck and they were all waiting for me. She said that my family will miss me, but that I will still be with them. I took a few more steps forward to get a better look at her and then stopped and turned to look at my family again. This time my family was gone. There were no birds in the sky and there were no more people around the buildings that were there earlier. All life seemed to be gone except for me. I considered running back down the ramp, but when I looked down at my feet the ramp was gone. I didn’t realize it at the time, but as I took steps going up the ramp it was retracting behind me. There was only one direction I could walk. I turned to look at the woman again and she said “It’s time to go”. She said, “Don’t be afraid, the hard part is over”.
Having been an obedient Marine I felt like I had no choice but to board the ship. I took a few more steps forward and then heard faintly in the distance “Are you going to work dear?” I opened my eyes and my wife was standing over me. She wanted to make sure I knew it was time to get up. I woke up feeling very relaxed and calm, but I knew I had just experience something strange and something that I’ve never experienced before.
After thinking about this I wonder if my wife had not woke me up and that ship had departed would I have passed from this life to the next – gone from here to there? I wonder that if it was a Saturday and she didn’t wake me up would things have ended differently. Is this how the end comes, very peaceful and very calm? The transition seemed to be peaceful and painless. People die in all sorts of ways, but I wonder if they actually feel the pain or is the fear of dying greater than the act of dying. At the point that it comes does something else take over?
We have all seen the History Channel showing deer brought down by lions. While the deer is still alive the lion rips out their soft under belly and begins feeding. The deer lays there and watches the lion eating him/her until they finally bleed out and die. While the act is very violent the deer seems to feel no pain, lays their head down and just slips away. I wonder if that is how it ends for all of us no matter how we die. Maybe the fear of dying is more stressful than the act of dying.
No one cheats death, but I wonder if mine was delayed when my wife woke me up. Or, was this a warning shot over the bow to be a better person with the time you have left because no matter how long you’ve lived time is short and time always runs out.
Have a great day, I know I will.
My dream started out with me standing on a large concrete dock somewhere off the Atlantic coast. The dock was so long that I couldn’t see the end of it in any direction. I could see the hustle and bustle of people working around the buildings and watched containers being lifted and lowered by cranes.
I wasn’t sure immediately why I was there, but my wife, kids and pets were standing huddled up a couple of steps behind me. I reached out to them, but they stayed just outside my reach. My wife and kids had tears in their eyes and the animals were whining, but they didn’t come any closer to me.
I looked up and noticed that the sky was a beautiful shade of blue and very clear. The air was pure and I took deep breaths to fill up my lungs. The air didn’t smell like salt as you would have expected, but instead it smelled like lightly scented flowers, but not over powering. That seemed unusual because I didn’t see any flowers around me. I was on a dock bordering an ocean and there was nothing but concrete and buildings all around me. There was a warm breeze and birds were flying high in the sky. I still didn’t know why I was there and for some reason I couldn’t communicate with my family. When I turned to speak to them we would just look at each other and it was if they couldn’t see me. They seemed sad and I didn’t know why.
I turned back to face the ocean and out of no where a very large ship had pulled up and docked. There were no sounds of water churning that would have been associated with a ship approaching, the water was completely calm and there were no sounds from the multiple ships engines. Slowly a ramp began extending out from the ship to where I was standing and stopped at my feet. I didn’t have any feelings of being scared, but I was still shocked that a large ship was able to dock without making any noise and I didn’t see any of the normal preparations associated with docking a ship.
Suddenly, a person in an ivory white uniform appeared and was standing on the ship at the other end of the ramp opposite me. I couldn’t see any rank, decorations, ribbons or insignia that you would have recognized as part of a military uniform, but I got the sense that the person I was looking at was in charge.
Strangely, I didn’t see anyone else on the ship or movement you would also expect to see. The person looked at me and said, “Come aboard, we have to go”. She held out one arm and motioned for me to walk up the ramp. After hearing the voice I realized that the person I was looking at was a female. As I focused on her face I could see that I didn’t recognize her. I would not have considered her attractive, but also not unattractive. She looked very confident and I felt as if I was compelled to obey her orders.
I looked back at my family again to get their impression, but while no one had moved they seemed farther away and their forms seemed to be fading. At that moment I thought I realized why I was there. Over four decades ago I had been in the USMC for four years and spent over two years at sea. Apparently, I had been re-activated and was being deployed somewhere. I wasn’t sure about going aboard so I tried yelling out questions to the woman. I wanted to know how long I would be gone and where I was going. She said that it was time to rest and that my family already knew I was gone. I thought “gone”, but I haven’t left yet. That caught me by surprise and I looked back at my family again. They had faded a little more to the point that I couldn’t recognize their individual faces.
I took a few steps up the ramp and I told the woman that I didn’t think I was the right person. I told her that I didn’t want to leave my family and that I was about to be a grand parent for the first time. I told her that they needed me and they would miss me. I told her that I didn’t think I had anything I could offer at that stage in my life. I suggested that she re-activate younger veterans. She said that there were all ages of veterans below deck and they were all waiting for me. She said that my family will miss me, but that I will still be with them. I took a few more steps forward to get a better look at her and then stopped and turned to look at my family again. This time my family was gone. There were no birds in the sky and there were no more people around the buildings that were there earlier. All life seemed to be gone except for me. I considered running back down the ramp, but when I looked down at my feet the ramp was gone. I didn’t realize it at the time, but as I took steps going up the ramp it was retracting behind me. There was only one direction I could walk. I turned to look at the woman again and she said “It’s time to go”. She said, “Don’t be afraid, the hard part is over”.
Having been an obedient Marine I felt like I had no choice but to board the ship. I took a few more steps forward and then heard faintly in the distance “Are you going to work dear?” I opened my eyes and my wife was standing over me. She wanted to make sure I knew it was time to get up. I woke up feeling very relaxed and calm, but I knew I had just experience something strange and something that I’ve never experienced before.
After thinking about this I wonder if my wife had not woke me up and that ship had departed would I have passed from this life to the next – gone from here to there? I wonder that if it was a Saturday and she didn’t wake me up would things have ended differently. Is this how the end comes, very peaceful and very calm? The transition seemed to be peaceful and painless. People die in all sorts of ways, but I wonder if they actually feel the pain or is the fear of dying greater than the act of dying. At the point that it comes does something else take over?
We have all seen the History Channel showing deer brought down by lions. While the deer is still alive the lion rips out their soft under belly and begins feeding. The deer lays there and watches the lion eating him/her until they finally bleed out and die. While the act is very violent the deer seems to feel no pain, lays their head down and just slips away. I wonder if that is how it ends for all of us no matter how we die. Maybe the fear of dying is more stressful than the act of dying.
No one cheats death, but I wonder if mine was delayed when my wife woke me up. Or, was this a warning shot over the bow to be a better person with the time you have left because no matter how long you’ve lived time is short and time always runs out.
Have a great day, I know I will.