Now, my dreams are not to be confused with the types of fantasy, but rather realistic dreams that are attainable in a lifetime. These dreams are of my future, my life as an adult. Here is my dream of life:
I dream of going to college/university. In this institution, I make many friends from sports and from 'partying'. Friends of whom will remain in my life for years to come. While struggling to understand the curriculum, I work hard enough to keep my GPA above a 3.5 and still have time to spend with the people I know and love. Family first, then school, then friends. Maybe, just maybe, there WILL be someone I come to love in these years. Probably not, but maybe. In that case, studies can wait because that's not more important than someone I like. I probably will not meet that someone though, so there's no use worrying.
Out of school, I plan to commit to the AP review and my team. Sorry! Calculus inside joke.
After school, I plan on securing a job that can afford me a nice apartment near the office and a decent car that I will not have to worry about breaking down in the middle of major highways. My first paid vacation, I will travel to another country and build up a nice tan with a lady friend. Of course there would be a lady friend. I will not travel to another country by myself... there's nobody to share wonder and enjoyment with in that scenario.
By now, I should be able to read in another language with comfort, but not ease. Probably just Spanish but maybe Greek or Italian. Reading and/or watching movies will be my entertainment for nights I do not find myself with friends. If things with the lady friend are serious... which should be by this point... I would consider buying a solid home (with more than one bathroom) in a low-crime suburb of a beautiful city for the two of us. The town I move into will have stores along the street, not malls and superstores, but a barber and a grocer and a candy store and little shops like that. The school district will be one of the best in the state in academics and will be good, not great, in athletics. By this point I will have considered children and will have realized that it's time I have some of my own. I have a well paying job, along with my lady friend, and we realize that the expenses of a child will not interrupt our lives and how we live them.
Marriage is dawning. I have realized it since the first day I met her. We would get married one day and have children and a beautiful home. Well, the home is ours and we want the children. So much of our time is spent together anyways. The only thing that proves we are not married in public is that we don't have rings. That is going to change very soon. I talk to her friends about marriage and when one seems to understand my plan, we go to get the ring at a jewelry store. One strikes my eye instantly, but the price tag is WAY too much. She wouldn't even like it anyway. It's too elegant and luxurious for her liking. I know her kind of ring: Simple, yet profound. The way light hits the stone, you could stare for hours at its beauty. And there it is. I know the size and instantly bark at the jeweler "THIS IS THE ONE!" And it is mine. All mine. For now...
Waiting for the perfect time. We go hiking and running through the woods and in the mountains. I plan to propose at the top, but when we get there, I chicken out. I convince myself it's not the right time. What if she says no? It would be a LONG walk back. It could ruin everything! I'm taking it too fast, so I wait a month.
She knows something has been bothering me. I ask if she wants to go to the Cheesecake Factory for a special dinner with me and she says yes with a smile. When we get there, I have a fantastic idea. Crazy, but I think it's fantastic. I ask to use the bathroom and go through 'Employee Only' doors to the kitchen. I ask a baker about it and he laughs and says yes. When I come back I make the straightest face of my life. I could win poker games with that face. After we finish our always-delicious meals, our desert comes and we are ecstatic. I stare as she takes a bite into her slice of cheesecake and then it happens. She stops and pulls the ring out then I kneel and it's wonderful and she says yes and everyone in the Cheesecake Factory claps and we're overjoyed. Happy times!
Fast forward through the most beautiful wedding ever (I didn't plan more than 10% of it HA). We have two children, both boys, who love their family and are loved by their family. They are smart for their age and are very athletic. They like to run and play baseball like me. One is a fantastic writer and is in the band. The other loves math but can't stand reading for more than an hour at a time. We all love each other. Of course, there are times when we don't get along, but we are not dysfunctional. We love to do things together like fishing and going to ball parks and watching hockey games and going to see movies.
My wife and I know that as they are growing up, we are getting older as well. The things our children do, the fads they get themselves into, remind us of how naive we were growing up. Spoiled, in fact, with our internet and cellular phones. They will have some new type of social media that we can't understand how to work. They'll be annoyed as we try to show our love when they get older, but they still know that we do it because of what they mean to us. When they finally leave college, we'll move to a beach somewhere, or maybe South Dakota. Somewhere quiet and peaceful where we can spend our time together. We'll do the things we never could with them around. Explore places we've never been before, even though we don't have our youth anymore.
From time to time, our children will visit or call. Now they have kids of their own! Wow, they're growing up fast. It seems like just yesterday they were being coddled and sung back to sleep each night. I begin to miss those days, but it doesn't last long. I am thankful for the things I have experienced in life with the people I've experienced them with.
My grandkids ask me how life was growing up in my time and I say, unlike my grandfather said to me, that it was really easy! Everything I needed in life was all around me. Things that made me happy were cheap and a low-paying job was easy to come by. I had a great time in school and I had many friends. I felt like the luckiest man in the world when your grandmother said yes to my proposal. The story of the ring in the cake doesn't make sense to them and they ask what I would have done if she chipped a tooth. Kids these days...
Oh well, I envy their innocence and energy because I am old now. I can no longer run and neither can she. Arthritis ugh. We can share meds though so it's cool. Not once since we moved into the new house have we argued. Not once have we betrayed each other. She was the only love for me, as I was for her.
It was the most painful night of my life when she passed in her sleep next to me in our bed. She was sick for a while and it was just her time. The month afterward was a blur to me. Anything I did, I expected her to be beside me, but she wasn't. I was ashamed for what I had become in that month. I was shallow and bitter. I felt as if I could not live without her. Then I had my dream. The dream of her and all she had given me. The new things I learned from her, the family we had created. I loved her for this and I realized something... Everything around me was because of her. We were one. When family visited, I was happy. I was excited to see them because she was them. She was the home. She was everything that brought me joy.
That's why for the next FEW years, I was the happiest old man anyone had ever seen. I made made my lasting effect in the community by donating some of our wealth to orphanages and to build a recreational center in memory of my wife. Why the next FEW years, you may ask. That's because I became sick too. I knew it was my time to go as well and I welcomed it. I could not wait to finally be with my wife. When I get there, I know she will be waiting and we can continue the life that we had forever.
~This is the short version of my dream. I skipped over many things. I'll keep you posted.
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