Dreams are strange things. And believe me, I have had my share of strange dreams. One that stands out in my memory involves a strange, surreal dream involving my father's brother. When I was fourteen, I was disturbed by a strange, dark dream...a dream that later, I saw as a warning of things that were to come.

The dream itself was full of strange images. Different family members and friends appeared at various times, acting in unusual ways, or even dressed in the most unusual fashion. During one especially vivid scene, my father's brother, Kenneth, was dancing with his wife.. on a stage..a very stylized, flowing dance, seeming almost to be ballet. But what really burned into my mind was the image of my uncle..instead of his normal appearance, he was..well, black. Not in the sense he was a Negro in my dream, but in that he seemed much darker than the others in my dream. As though light were cut off from him, casting an almost photographic negative image, despite the normal coloring of my aunt who strutted and danced upon the stage with him.

I watched tier performance for awhile, and then turned to go, and was met by a close friend of the family, standing there along side me, watching the dance. The strange part of this image was that he was dressed very formally in a light blue suit. Calvin (the friend) had NEVER in my remembrance, ever worn such a suit in my presence. That is why I seemed to take such note of the fact he was wearing one at that time. Other strange things occurred in my dream, but the image of my uncle, dancing his strange dance, and the image of Calvin in his blue suit stood out vividly in my mind when I awoke the next morning. The images had been so vivid, and somehow disturbing, that I shared my dream with my mother, who dismissed it, of course, as one of those crazy dreams.

But little did I know at that time , that my dream would take on darker meaning by that evening. Just after nightfall the next evening, our peaceful summer night was disturbed by the visit of the local sheriff...to inform us that my uncle, who was working in eastern Virginia at that time, had been killed in a wreck involving his dump truck. Even during our shock and grief, my mother remembered the dream I had shared with her that morning, and stated flatly, "There's the end to your dream." It gave me cold chills. Stranger still..after my uncle had been brought home, the wake was held in the living room of my grandparent's home. Many people came to offer tier respect, and sympathy. Of course, Calvin was one of the mourners. And what was he wearing? That light blue suit he had worn in my dream.......