I Had Too Much to Dream Last Night

Hello Friends,

The title above is from a popular song from 1966 recorded by the classic Rock Band...The Electric Prunes." Hmmm, I feel totally naive, if you know what an electric prune is...don't tell me...I think I should remain naive. But, anyway, the song came to mind as I awakened after dreaming about Trudy only a couple of days ago. However, for me it's more like "I can't remember enough of my dream last night." Anyway, here is one thing I do remember about this dream in which Trudy was vividly present.

Trudy and I were : "Freeway Ice Skating!" (I know, I know...but dreams...whatcha gonna do?). Hand in hand we darted in and out and around traffic; through tunnels and adroitly avoiding almost certain collisions. It was as though we were in some sci-fy movie chase scene. The adrenaline was high and sometimes Trudy squealed at the appearance of some situation that appeared to be certain doom! Yet, we contorted ourselves into a position to miraculously evade the danger. I said: "Come on, let's go this way!" She said: "Are YOU Sure??!!" I hollered out: "I sure hope so!" And away we went, hand in hand, skating at Olympic speed into our dream adventure.

Now, I'm neither an interpreter of dreams nor the son of an interpreter of dreams but I got this one. As I have reflected upon our "Love Story," plainly, we lived our lives in an adventurous fashion. Oh, not so fast as "freeway ice skating" or as dramatic as a sci-fy movie, but with lots of unknown twists and turns, lots of chilling encounters, lots of "I sure hope so's", and most assuredly...we lived our life together...hand in hand.

Chronicles of Robert and Trudy, Chapter 22:

Trudy was glad to be back in Louisiana! We had moved to Rustic Manor Drive in the Pineville area on March 22, 1987. We had to rent the place because our house in Oklahoma City had not sold. We once again did not "church shop" as we immediately joined Alpine First Baptist Church, where Charles Hutzler served as pastor. Wendy and Brian were enrolled in Mary Goff Elementary School and Trudy arranged to do some substitute teaching with the Rapides Parish School Board. Further, she began the process to become certified again after almost fourteen years out of the teaching field. Robert simply waited for April first, which would be his first day with Sandoz Pharmaceutical Company as a Sales Representative. Every time there was a move, there were unforeseen challenges and this move was no different. Our children found that schools were different and that they had to start all over on making friends. It was no picnic for them, but they persevered quite well. Trudy had to take a couple of classes to get her certification active and she found being back in the classroom to be a formidable challenge. Robert had a job that suited him to a tee and probably had the least amount of stress in the adjustment process.

We were greatly helped by being around family in all this newness. We were strategically located right between Winnfield, Louisiana, where Robert's parents lived and Poland, Louisiana which was the community in which Trudy's parents lived. We often made visits to one or the other and they would frequently make visits to us. That helped a lot, especially, I think, with Wendy and Brian. We were blessed to have family surrounding us. We especially appreciated the blessing of family, when in June, 1987, Brian was found to have Type I (insulin dependent) Diabetes. No doubt, God had orchestrated our move back home just in time to provide us with the needed family support for adjusting to Brian's chronic major health issue. In all that process, Brian was great. He learned how to take good care of himself and how to live a fully productive life...playing baseball, soccer, basketball, and power lifting.

By and by, Trudy accepted a teaching position at Montgomery High School in Montgomery, Louisiana. We enrolled Wendy and Brian in Verda Elementary (near Montgomery) and every school day, Trudy, Wendy, and Brian would make that two-way commute of about 45 minutes each way. Meanwhile, Robert enjoyed working with Sandoz and earned several selling awards (and some great bonus checks). One great highlight was when I took the family with me on a business trip to Orlando, Florida. I had a "bus-man's holiday, and we had a great family vacation.

More Louisiana adventures next time.

Blessings,
Robert