Trip Up North

I had a dream that I was going up north
With several of my friends.
We were discussing which of us would drive
And then decided that we could all go in one car.

I don’t know why,
But everyone was dressed very nicely.
This was odd
As this was going to be long weekend,
Sort like a camping event,
though we would be staying in a hotel.
Most of the events we were going to attend
Would be outside activities.
And yet,
Everyone arrived ready to leave
In very nice attire.

My friend, Marcy,
Was wearing black pants
With a red and white blouse
That had spaghetti straps.
Dolores was dressed in black pants
With a black suit jacket.

When we got into the car
I ended up in the back seat
With two other friends.
There were actually four seated in front.
Lupe was driving,
Though in real life Lupe is already deceased.

During the drive up
We were discussing the talks
That each of us would have to give.. .
. . .some sort of testimony.
The plan was that everyone in attendance would speak.
After each talk,
A flag of some sort was placed
In a design.
The flags for our group were red and white.

When we arrived,
I decided to go for a walk.
One of my friends was with me.
A child started to follow us.
She wanted to warn us about something,
But I don’t know what.
She continued to follow us,
Though remaining behind us some distance.
As we neared a railroad track
We decided to return to the group.

On Sunday we went to church.
The priest had invited several couples
Who had lost a child.
They all came, but were seated, each couple, alone.
No one from the congregation had welcomed them
Or greeted them when they came in.
After church,
They were going to have
Some sort of support group for them.

I approached the priest
And told him that I thought
That each couple should have
Some sort of sponsor couple from the parish.
Not so much to be a part of the support group,
Though I thought that was a good idea.
But mainly to befriend them
And welcome them to our church. .
. . .introduce them to others,
attend church functions with them. . .
. . .basically spend time with them
until they knew some members of the congregation.
The priest decided that mine
Was a bad idea.

After all of this at church,
We went back to all of our activities of the weekend.
More people gave talks
And different colors of flags
Were placed in the design.

Selling the Family Business

This dream was unusual.
My family in this dream
wasn't my family in real life.
In this dream,
all of these people were unknown to me real life.

My father was a tubby Greek gentleman.
And I had three brothers.
(In the awake world I have two brothers.)

We had a family business
that was going under.
I'm not sure what it was,
but I think it had something to do
with pet supplies or pet food.

I worked in the family business,
but I also had a job outside of the business.
So,
I didn't depend on this for my income.

An offer came from a large company
to buy the family business.
Except for one of my brothers,
no one in the family wanted to accept the offer.

I think my brother only saw the dollar signs.
He really wasn't too concerned
with what was best for everyone.
He just knew that he would receive
a significant chunk of change
if the business were sold.

I had another brother
was running for City Council.
He didn't want to sell
because he was using the family name.
He really had no business running for office.
He just wanted the fame of being in local politics.
Selling the business
wouldn't be good for his political name,
or so he thought.

Another brother didn't really want to sell.
But also realized that some sort of comment
needed to be made to the public.
The press had gotten wind of the offer
and started to follow us everywhere,
asking if we were going to sell.
He made some comments to the press like,
"we're examining all options,"
"we're taking all things into consideration."
He didn't really say anything.

A secretary who worked for us
always avoided the subject of children.
We never knew why.
Another of our workers found some candy
stuffed in the cushions in the couch in her office.
Only he realized that it wasn't candy at all.
It was drugs.
He said this is how the drug pushers
sell to children.
He wraps it up as candy
and then the kids get hooked.
The secretary burst into tears.
Amidst her weeping
she told us that that is how she lost her child.
Her son had died after a drug overdose
taking what he thought was candy.

At that point my father realized
that we had to sell the family business.
It would give everyone a new start.
It would bring jobs to the area
(something my brother running for office
could use in his political pitch).
And it would just give us more time
to be family,
not just business partners.

And I don't know what this means,
but my father wore white throughout this dream.
Sort of like that white suite Col Sanders wears. . .

So,
What does this all mean?
What's up with that white suite?
What does a family business symbolize?
Who were these people who in real life aren't my people?
And what of this child that died?