Stories & Dreams

The Story - So I have been growing my hair out to perm it (like Sharrid likes). Lesson learned I went to someone in my ward who had been to school but never really held a salon job. I thought it would be more convenient and less of a hassle but my hair didn't turn out. Some of it was over processed while some of it was under processed. I was going home to Logandale so I had Rose (who did my perm in College (when I met Sharrid) check it out. She cut a lot of the damage off and layered it so it wasn't so much hair! Now, I just have to grow it out little by little (that'll take forever!) and then get a "real" perm. I will definitely go to Rose. At this point I'm not taking any chances. Rose has done it before and it turned out great. She knows her stuff. For now my sisters think my hair looks like "fake dreads"...and I guess I can rock that.

My hair looks really flat in these pictures. It's the end of the day. Usually I have a lot of body.

The Dream - Before I tell you my dream I had last night, I must say where I know it stemmed. I have been converting my home video tapes to DVD's so I have been watching each one as I finish them. Last night I watched my Willard grandparents (both now passed away) hold and play with my son Marcelus at Thanksgiving when we have a Willard reunion every year. That would be considered a rare and priceless piece of footage for two reasons to me. #1 My grandparents were very old and rarely interacted with the babies. #2 My grandparents were always together and pretty much did everything together but there's something about this clip where they are doing something together and both are enjoying it equally together. It's hard to explain but I guess I didn't see them enjoy one thing, together...very often although I'm sure they did because I know they liked to fish together. They just looked as if time had re-wound about 60+ years and they were parents for the first time again. It's a special piece of footage for me anyhow.

I also watched at an immediate family gathering how my dad talked about his parents and read a letter that he received from grandma and grandpa while on his mission. I watched as he told us that if we would read those letters, we would have a different perception of our grandparents.

Last night after I went to sleep I dreamt that I met with my grandparents. They were happy as can be, just beaming. My grandpa was sitting in a chair right in front of me, facing me. He was wearing the old clothes he used to wear; some brown polyester type slacks with a plaid button up shirt and suspenders. He looked as old as he did when he died but he moved quick and talked a lot faster then he did when he was here. You know how when people get older, they take forever to say one thing and it just seems so hard for them to spit it out. It seems like work to talk. My grandpa was conversing with me at regular person speed. It was very interesting to see him so fluent, animated, and easy while still looking so old. He didn't lean anymore, he didn't have any signs of hurting or aches. He didn't have his cane. My grandma was standing behind his chair and didn't say much but looked extremely happy. She kept looking down at grandpa and back at me as he told me all the wonderful things they were involved in. He was telling me all the great things they were doing there and grandma looked at him and me as if to agree or say "Yep, aren't you proud of us!" or "It's true, can you believe it? We're doing so great!" This was also interesting to me because while they were alive, grandma did all the talking for grandpa. He was pretty shy and grandma could talk a hind leg off a mule. But here, grandpa was as excited and talkative as I ever saw him! It was more like he was a little kid telling me everything he'd gotten for Christmas that day and before grandma could interject he'd be babbling on about the next thing, so she just smiled and nodded and looked to me for approval. I've never seen my grandparents look so happy as they were in this dream. I don't really remember what grandpa said...all the incredible things they were working on...but I know there were probably about 8 things he told me about. I forgot what they were, but I will never forget how happy they looked. When they had finished talking to me, I saw grandpa get up and walk across the room, well I don't know if it was a room because it was bright white and no walls, no dimensions, no doors, no corners...just bright white. He walked away from me to go help somebody or talk to somebody else real quick. I saw him get out of the chair and walk across the way as if he was 20 years old. I never saw my grandpa walk like that in all my life. Grandpa always was slow and hunched. It was so interesting to see him appear old but walk like that, wearing his old clothes. I never turned back to look at grandma...my dream shifted to something else or I woke up.

That was an amazing dream! It was really interesting and they were so happy you couldn't dream of distinguishing it. It was contagious. They were so proud of what they were doing. I hope I can always see this in my mind and that I never forget about it.