Friday, March 25, 2011

Dream Diary - Grandpa's War

I guess it’s been a while since I had a dream that seemed significant to me, or one that I could remember anyway. Last night, however, I had one that is really sticking with me.
It started out in a house that is unfamiliar to me. In the house was myself, Mom, Dad, Grandma Brandt, and I think my sister was there too. I don’t know whose house it was, but I think someone was getting ready to move out. It seemed like there was a lot of clutter around, and there was also a carpet steamer. The steamer belonged to Dad in this dream, and I was thinking how handy it would be to have one, so I asked him how much it had cost. In typical Dad fashion, he said, “Those of us who work for a living pay attention to how much things cost.” I said something to him, but I can’t remember exactly what. Something like “Okay, that’s good.” Then I went outside through the front door.
The front stoop of this house was a concrete landing of six or seven steps. Grandpa Meril Dean was sitting on one of the lower steps talking on a cell phone, something he never did in life because they hadn’t been developed yet. Grandpa’s hound dog, Barney, was sitting about three steps up from him, so I sat down next to the dog and began to pet him. I got the impression that Grandpa was talking to an old friend, reminiscing about the war. In reality, Grandpa did serve with the Marines in World War II.
After a minute or two, Grandpa hung up the phone, and he said to me, “Do you know what happened at Hondu?” “Hondu” is exactly what he said, and to my knowledge this is not a real place, but in the dream I understood that he was referring to a WWII battle. I felt a moment of regret at not knowing what had happened there, and I think I considered lying to him so as not to seem ignorant, but in the end I answered, “Not exactly.”
So he began telling me the story of what he had experienced at Hondu. I don’t really remember the details, but definitely remember the way he told the story. He was very animated, going through the actions and doing sound effects and everything. At one point he actually pulled a handgun out from somewhere to show me how he had drawn a bead on the enemy. For one crazy moment I was afraid that someone would come out the front door, and Grandpa, caught up in the moment, would accidentally pull the trigger. That didn’t happen though. That kind of animation was nothing like Grandpa in real life, but his old familiar gruffness was still very much present. During his story, he also mentioned Tarawa, which I think is a real place, one of those Pacific islands where the Japanese fought so fiercely against our Marines. After that, my dream started going off on some crazy tangent that I don’t really remember, and I woke up pretty soon after that.
Grandpa died in 1992, and since then I can’t tell you how many times I have wished that I had talked to Grandpa about the war and got him to tell me some stories. It is one of my biggest regrets. In a way, I got to experience that a little bit through this dream. When I woke up, the first thought that popped into my head was, “That was an awesome dream, God. Thank you.”

Isaiah 43:2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. NIV

1 comment:

  1. While war is being waged...you always remember to come back home and be grateful for all you have.

    You didn't get a carpet cleaner, but ya got a carpet. ;)

    Nice memory, or dream.

    God loves you! And me too!

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