When my Dad was a teenager he had a job working the ferris wheel at Coney Island. He grew part of his life in Brooklyn. It was normal in large families in Cape Breton to ship some of the kids out to relatives during dry times. Mom was shipped to Aunt Pinky, Dad was shipped to Aunties Viola, Miniver and Winnifred who all lived together in a brownstone in Brooklyn,NY. He grew up in Whitney Pier, home of the infamous tarponds. His grandfather Collie had a cherry orchard in South Bar, the beautiful oceanscape past the Pier. Collie was a boxing trainer and opened the first local training gym for boxers in his basement. He trained some future champions there. I loved the cherry orchard.
A week before Collie died i was sitting in the kitchen with my mom, my sister and our neighbor valerie having tea and listening to gossip. I was about 8. I went into this trance where all my vision went bright white and grandpa Collie was in the middle of this white holding out his hand to me. I wanted to take it. Next thing I knew mom and valerie were holding me on the floor and slapping my face. I could hear them in the distance saying "she's so pale"... they told me not to be afraid I had just passed out a little. i grabbed my mom and told her we had to go see grandpa. "tommorrow" she said. hmmm. that same year I started another waking dream that recurrent through my life. First time I had was in the schoolyard at lunchtime and the old man who watched over us, Mr. Wilson helped me up. I was in an underground series of cave's being led by soldiers of some sort. The walls were dripping and dark. I was the only one who could fit without crouching. They made me show ID cards to prove who I was and then I was allowed to enter the room where he was hanging by his neck and all of his flesh was gone. He had been skinned alive.
You'd think that this would be an awful scene for an 8 yr old to witness, but even in my perception then I knew this image wasn't violent. There was a different message. I've had this dream probably twenty times since then, the last time being 2 yrs. ago. It happens when I'm awake and lasts only a minute or two. The days following are always calm and peaceful in my soul.