A “Visit” From an Old Friend

As a guy who has worked in sleep for the last 9 years, you would think I’d know more about dreams and why we dream them. Truth is, I have no clue. Furthermore, many sleep professionals and scientists are eluded by this topic.

I woke up from a dream last night and chuckled. Probably because I knew if was after midnight and officially the Fourth of July. It seemed like the appropriate dream and the bonus was a visit from an old friend.

Having dreams about Band Class is common for me. One of my recurring dreams is showing up unprepared, without my music, or without my instrument.

In last night’s dream, it is my Senior year of high school. I know that because of something I say in the dream. I am in the band room library sorting music. When I was in school, I was a Band Librarian for a couple years. My job was to get music from the files and make sure every player had a copy of it. I guess that is the first oddity, as I was the Band President my Senior year.

As I am sorting music, my friend and high school band director, Tom Shaner, comes around the corner and into the room. There he was, smiling and joking and calling me by my high school nickname. You may recall that he passed away in 2020. Here is a link to the tribute blog I wrote about him:

https://nostalgicitalian.com/2020/12/29/im-gonna-miss-you-sir/

The second oddity of the dream was that we were chatting about things in my current life. He was asking about my kids, my wife, and my job. This was only odd because in my dream, I’m still in school. These would be things we talked about often over the years.

Then the subject turned to our concert. He spoke of it being one saluting America and being patriotic. He then pulled out Sousa’s Stars and Stripes Forever. In the dream I am disappointed, because it was a song we had played before.

I mentioned to him that we had recently played it to which he replied, “How can we do a patriotic concert without it?” Point taken. The bell rings and that’s the dream.

As odd as it was to be talking about things in my current life, I was glad to have had this exchange with him. I think of him often and miss our talks.

Thanks for dropping by, Sir.