I got online earlier today to post about my dream, the one I was still smiling about when I awoke. So I wrote about
Native Americans, words, a fat squirrel, and my mother. Nowhere in that list is my dream. Now that my foggy thinking (from staying home alone, maybe, during this pandemic?) has let me remember my dream, here 'tis, as my friend
Jane Yelliott used to say. (The photo shows my friend Donna on the right and Jane with a mouthful of food, when the three of us ate Chinese food to celebrate the Chinese New Year in 2012. We all three wore Chinese red that day. Jane died at the end of December 2013, a few months before I moved to St. Louis. I still miss you, Jane.)
Anyway, my dream was wonderful because I got to hug somebody in it. Remember when we could hug our friends? Remember when we could even get NEAR people? It used to be "normal" to shake hands, clap someone on the back, and share a hug with people you care about. In my dream, a woman I knew only slightly was sitting in the room with me and others, and I said to her, "You look like you need a hug." She smiled at me, so I got up and went over to give her a big, bear hug. I woke up realizing that I can still do that in my dreams.
People who know me, know that I'm a hugger. In the 1980's when I lived in Atlanta, one woman would always spread her arms wide when she saw me in the hall at church. She was elderly, though she was probably younger than I am now, and that hug from me may have been the only hug she got all week. It was special, and she looked forward to it. If you have trouble reading the printed words beside that picture of Lucy hugging Snoopy, it says, "A hug is better than all the theology in the world." Leave a comment for me if you need a hug right now, and I'll send you
a big virtual hug from me.
Hi there friend! I can always use one of your wonderful hugs.
ReplyDeleteYay, Emily! Here's your big bear hug, coming atcha virtually.
ReplyDeletePeople I know miss all sorts of things during this pandemic: going to the movies, eating in a restaurant, travel, etc. But for me, hugging is the thing I miss the most. I've told my friends to watch out because once there's a vaccine, I'm coming for them!
ReplyDeleteA new friend here in St. Louis called me after reading this blog post and said, "I didn't know you were a hugger." Maybe that's because huggers KNOW when someone does NOT want to be hugged or touched. This new friend also does not want to be mentioned on my blog, and I actually took down one of my posts a year or so ago because it mentioned her (first name only, and it's a common name). Ha! I just looked back to see WHEN that post was taken down, and it was in July of this year! Yes, because of this pandemic, it does seem to me like July was "a year or so ago."
ReplyDelete