A Hug To Be Remembered

 When I heard that a friend was in the hospital I decided to visit him. I had not seen him for a long time and as I entered the quiet room I saw that he was sleeping. Not moving, shallow breathing. Very still. I thought, gee, it looks like he is dead! A large woman with lots of makeup entered the room and loudly said, "You better not be sick because you now have to take care of this one." She pointed at her stomach. He slowly opened his eyes. He did not look at me but got up and began moving around the large room. I had the feeling he was embarrassed. I said, "Look at this wooden floor, it would make a great dance floor." In the past he had been my dance partner and he finally looked at me. He stepped nearer and we hugged. A warm and beautiful, body to body hug and when I began to pull away he said, "Let me hold you a bit longer, it has been a long time." We stayed in the embrace and I remembered he always gave wonderful hugs. How beautiful his hug felt. He released me and we both had tears in our eyes. How great it felt to have my good friend hug me!

The woman, who I felt was too crass and demanding continued talking to him as if I was not present. She wore a lot of eye makeup and she might have been a mulatto. I said I had to leave and with a final wave to my friend I picked up my keys and left. When I got to the reception area I noticed that both sets of keys were not mine. I did not want to return to the room but knew that I had to return the keys and get my own. I could not find my way back.  I asked someone at the desk and they said they would walk me to the room but somehow we ended up outside. AND THEN I WOKE UP!

My good friend has been gone for over twenty year and I pray for him along with prayers for my family. As I thought about the dream I still had a warm feeling of his special hug. In fact, most of the day I thought about him and the good times we used to have as we ballroom danced all over town! If it is possible for the dead to return to earth, I know he came last night and gave me a special hug!

"The future belongs to

those that believe in

the beauty of their dreams."

Eleanor Roosevelt