Predictions and Dreams

I have always had fun trying to predict what a child was going to be before it was born, or these days, before the parents find out. I guessed right one time and wrong the other on my brother Jason's two boys. I have to hand it to him and his wife Sara. They waited until they were born on both of their kids before they found out.

Carrie and I do not have that type of patience.

We are going to find out as soon as we can. We put up a poll here so that people could vote on what they think we might have going on here. I do not want what I am about to say to sway anyone one way or the other. Vote your gut instinct. That's the point. You have to vibe these things out. Many people have already told us what they think, and these predictions are all over the map.

Now for my prediction. I am pretty sure that I am right. Actually, I'm positive. However, I have been wrong before, and will be a million more times in the future. So bear that in mind. My prediction is based on a dream. Since we found out that Carrie is pregnant I have had lots of dreams. I have had dreams that the baby came out and attacked me. Then I had a dream that she had a litter of kittens, and I was the only one that was shocked. The Doctors seemed to be expecting it. Anyhow, the following is the last dream I have had on the subject, and it took place about two weeks ago on a Sunday morning. I woke up around 7:00 a.m., and realized I didn't need to be up, so back to sleep I went. This is the dream I had:

I was laying in a hospital bed. I was aware of several things. First of all, I was in no pain. Second, I knew that I was 84 years old and it was my time. It was absolutely my time. The thought of questioning this fact never occurred to me. I felt very at ease.

On my right Carrie stood next to my bed. She was old, but she looked wonderful. Her hair was long and gray, but the eyes, her blue eyes were still there. They shined big, blue, bright, and very alive. She smiled down at me and never said a word.

On my left were three grown men. My boys. Two of them had light brown hair. They looked similar. The third boy stood closest to me, and his hair was darker. They all had their mother's eyes. Not quite as blue and intense, but they definitely had that gene. They were big, tall, and they had grown up strong. I looked at them, and felt very proud that they were mine.

I looked back at Carrie. Throughout the dream, her and I never spoke. We didn't have to. We couldn't. There is no word or phrase in any language that could have been used. It never occurred to me to speak. Speaking would have been wrong. The feeling between us was something that I kept going towards, but I could only feel it for a second. As soon as I would almost realize the full extent of it, I was forced away, like I wasn't prepared to handle it yet. My 84 year old mind could handle it, but not the 36 year old mind that was having the dream. It was like trying to catch all the rays of the sun at once, or trying to take in the beauty of all creation at one time. It was so overwhelming. Love is a word that gets thrown around a lot, and the word love seemed small compared to what that was.

I couldn't move my head. I could only move my eyes. I looked back at my boys. Somehow, I knew that my work was done. It was not a sad moment. It felt like a moment of absolute completion.

The boy farthest from me said "We were lucky to have our Dad with us for 48 years".

The second boy just smiled down at me.

The third boy, closest to me said "Go ahead Pop. We will take care of Mom. You know that you don't have to worry".

Carrie reached down and grabbed my right hand. She squeezed my hand and smiled. I saw the wedding ring I gave her so long before and only a moment ago.

Then I woke up.