Out of Nowhere

Since my son, Sam, was just 4-years old, he’s been obsessed with the Villanova Wildcats college basketball team.

When Villanova is playing, we ALL know it, and two of the best days were when they won the title.

They played on Wednesday night at 9:00, and it was supposed to be an easy game. I wasn’t watching.

At around 10:00 though I heard Sam say, “Down by 8 with 12 minutes left.”

Uh-oh.

Still, I drifted off to sleep and was in that weird spot of being half-asleep and half-awake…

…and I had a very vivid dream.

My buddy Pops was seated at the kitchen table at my parent’s house. He had sausage, potatoes and eggs on his plate.

My Dad called out to me:

“What’re you eating?”

“Same as Pops,” I said.

And there was my Dad. I saw him clearly! Standing at the griddle, spatula in his hand, cigarette hanging from his mouth. Dark skin. 

He looked so alive…

…and Sam’s voice cut through the dream and stirred me back to the world.

“Down 2 with 17 seconds,” he said.

I was downhearted!

‘Nova pulled out the game, and I tried to get back to the dream, but of course I couldn’t get there.

7 hours later, it was time to work.

And man, out of nowhere, the grief was something I could reach out and touch.

That’s how it goes!

I was aware that it was making me feel loss, and I made a conscious decision to lift myself out of the fog.

Music can do that!

Took me a little while, but by lunchtime I was thankful that I got that glimpse.

See you in my dreams.

(He made the best eggs).