Monday, May 7, 2012

Dreams

     Do you remember your dreams?  I don’t mean the dreams you have when you’re asleep; I mean the ones you have when you are awake.  The ones you think about when you’re not on life’s merry go round.  Do you remember those dreams?
     When we are kids we dream all the time.  Back when I was in first grade in that little two-room schoolhouse in Center Groton I would dream about what I wanted to be when I got big.  I drew pictures of airplanes on the back of my schoolwork because I wanted to be a pilot.
     I always remembered wanting to fly planes but I had forgotten about drawing the pictures until about twenty years later when my motorcycle broke down on North Road.  There weren’t any cell phones back then so I went to the nearest house and knocked on the door.
     To my surprise one of my teachers from that little schoolhouse came to the door.  She let me use her phone to call for help and we sat and talked for a while.  She said she always remembered how I drew pictures on the back of my schoolwork.
     I was glad she didn’t remember me from the time I jumped out the cloak room window and wound up staying after school with my head down on the desk.  They knew how to teach you a lesson back then.  Absolutely nothing matched being put in the older kids’ classroom with your head down on the desk.



     When I think of dreams I think of the song “Dreams Go By” written and performed by Harry Chapin (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znsyWUDnDlY&noredirect=1).  I don’t know if you know who he was, but if you don’t you have missed some great music.  That song puts what happens to most of our dreams in perspective.  It begins like this….
There you stand in your dungarees
Looking so grown up and so very pleased
When you write your poems they have so much to say
When you speak your dreams it takes my breath away

You know I want to be a ball player
A regular slugging fool
But I guess our dreams must wait awhile
Until we finish school

     Isn’t that how our dreams seem to go?  There is usually something else that takes their spot.   Well, I guess if you think about it, when some one calls you a daydreamer, or even just a dreamer it isn’t usually a compliment.  In some ways being “practical” means ignoring our dreams.  And guess what happens…

And so you and I
We watch our years go by
We watch our sweet dreams fly
Far away, but maybe someday

     Yep, maybe someday, I’ve heard that tune more than once in my life.  In fact I’ve been guilty of singing it once or twice or, never mind how many times.  How about you?  Do you have a dream you keep hidden away for just the right time?  It just lies there waiting for the right time to jump up and say; “Hello it’s me, your dream come and get me!!”

I don’t know when
But we will dream again
And we’ll be happy then
Till our time just drifts away

     Once you let your dream slip away another might just sneak up on you.  It’s not over yet!!  Hey, you get older your likes and dislikes change.  You develop a new talent and bingo you have another dream.  I let my dream of flying through the air slip away.  In High School I learned you could fly along on the ground!  I got my license to drive!!!
     That’s when my love affair with the motorcar began.  I really liked sports cars and I owned several back then.  It started back in High School when I bought a 1963 TR-4.  I loved that car.  It had a little four-cylinder motor that pushed the car to 107 miles per hour.  That’s when I began to dream about racing.  Yep, another dream came along and replaced the old one!
     Has that happened to you?  Sure it has.  What did you do?  I’ll tell you what I did, I put my dream on hold while I visited my Uncle Sam and helped him out in a place called Viet Nam.  When I got back from that, another little thing came up that, well, sort of canceled the racecar thing.
There you stand in your wedding dress
You’re so beautiful that I must confess
I’m so proud you have chosen me
When a doctor is what you want to be

You know I want to be a painter, girl
A real artistic snob
But I guess we’ll have our children first
You’ll find a home I’ll get a job

     You guessed it I got married.  You’ve probably have the gist of the whole dream deal by now.  Dreams are what make us human.  I doubt that a Poodle dreams of being Saint Bernard (although I knew a Poodle who thought he was a Doberman).  I certainly doubt that a horse dreams of being the winner at Belmont.  And I really don’t believe that Charlie the Tuna dreamt of ending up in a can of StarKist.

     Listen it’s our dreams that make us special.  It’s when we pursue our dreams that we are building the world we want to live in.  When someone calls you a dreamer thank that individual for the compliment, because whether they mean it in that way or not, it is the highest compliment you can get.

Fight for your dreams!!!  They are worth it!!



     Are you willing to chase after your dream?  It can be a hard battle.  Then even when you have obtained that dream the struggle may not be over.  Sometimes when you think you have a dream firmly in your grasp someone comes along and tries to rip it away.  And sometimes they win….
     Take the case of Susette Kelo.  I know about her dream because of a book.  Hey, I write books.  But I write fiction.  I make them up from start to finish.  The people in my books have the dreams that I gave them.  At least that’s how I think it works.  Sometimes I wonder….
     Enough of that, back to Susette, you will find her story in a book called “Little Pink House” by Jeff Benedict, someone I’ve known since he was a teenager.  Jeff has skills.



     Under the title on the cover of the book is the subtitle “A True Story of Defiance and Courage”.  In addition to that this story is about the willingness for someone to fight against seemingly insurmountable odds to keep her dream, that “Little Pink House”.
     If you have ever had a dream that you gave up because the fight got the best of you, you need to read this book.  I know that it makes my dream battles seem rather small and makes me think I gave up too soon on more than one occasion.  Please visit Jeff’s website, JeffBenedict.com and learn more about what it means to fight for a dream.
     If you don’t seek after your dreams you will be singing right along with good old Harry Chapin…..
There you stand in your tailored suit
So many years gone by but you’re still so cute
You take the car to go and meet the bus
When our grandchildren come to visit us

You say you should have been a ballerina, babe
There are songs I should have sung
But I guess our dreams have come and gone
You’ve gotta dream when you are young

     If you have a dream that you can wrap yourself around, go get it.  Just one word of advice though, if your dream is to get a job as a Ninja (like my son’s when he was 10) it might be a hard sale.
Until next time, keep dreaming and if you are married to a dreamer fasten your seat belt because you are in for the ride of your life!!!

     Just a reminder before you go, I am donating 50% of the royalties from my novel “Operation Armageddon” go to Veterans help organizations because it’s those guys who protect our right to catch our dreams.  Please visit me at http://tagewright.blogspot.com/ right after you go see Jeff at http://www.jeffbenedict.com/

Happy dreams to you until we meet again!!!!!!! 

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