Member-only story
The Power of the Subconscious
In my dream, Dave had been dead for a while — he just didn’t know it.
It’s not often that I dream of a deceased friend or family member. Not only was my subject departed, but this was the first time I dreamed of anyone coming back to life and not realizing they’d been gone. The following account comes from a dream, not of actions or words but a lost friend, a broken connection, and possibly the need to answer a “what if” question. This dream was short — only a few seconds long — but quite vivid.
Dave had somehow been resurrected. I didn’t know how or why, but I knew it had been very recently. Sometimes in dreams, your subconscious feeds you certain facts, and in this case, it was definitely July of 2008. I was not traveling back to a time when Dave was still alive. This was also not just a vivid memory. In my dream, there was no doubt in my mind that he had died, but yet here he was.
I pondered this miracle as we both sat in a tent, preparing for our Independence Day performance. He was oiling the valves of his tuba with that sweet-smelling stuff he always used, as I did the same with my trumpet. His jokes came out as if nothing had ever happened, still a spry 54 years old and seemingly unaware of his newfound life status.
