I had a Dream - Lady Barbara

  Martin Luther King is having a birthday and his I have a dream speech will be seen and heard over television again. Yet he is not the only one who dreams.  Why Lady Barbara told me about a whopper. 
   Again I sit at table five. Lady Barbara has finished playing the piano - of course with my help. I hum the songs so she can remember the melody. The piano at the Encinitas' Senior Center has given her a new lease on life. After our lunch she remembers a dream she had when only eight years old.
  "My Uncle Jim and his wife took me on a trip to Colorado. My Dad had been born in the city of Pueblo. On the way I had a dream. In the dream I saw a two seat car with my Dad driving it. They were leaving Colorado. I had no idea what the dream meant."
  "I told  my Aunt about it. 'I know what the dream is all about. We need to drive into Denver, Colorado where you will get the answer to the dream and find out about your Dad. In Denver, my Aunt saw two gentleman sitting in front of a Dime store.
  "My Aunt Helen jumped out of the car and ran to the two men she saw. My Uncle Jim screamed for her to return to the car, but my Aunt was ornery. My  Aunt asked them about the name of  Hanson. One gentleman told my Aunt to ask the retired postman. She met with the postman. 
   "It seems to me my son had a friend by the name of Hanson. Give me your Dad's name and I will inquire if he still is friends with him."
   "About four weeks elapsed. Finally we got a telegraph from my real Grandfather but I can't remember the name. In the telegraph he wrote that he 'had three sons. One was kidnapped from a our Denver home. Your Dad, in the dream, was going to the funeral of your cousin."My Dad was glad to find out his Dad was still alive and we met his family in Santa Barbara. 
   At that point Lady Barbara began laughing. I remember in Pueblo I needed to go bad. I asked the town elders for directions to the bathroom. They laughed at this ten year old. One pointed to a shed. The smell overwhelmed me. I had no idea what a out house  was then. She then spoke about her Mom Agnes.
    My Mom taught at Nightingale Junior High School. She never allowed me to leave the kitchen table without me finishing my dinner. We had a depression going on, and my Mom knew how to make hamburgers from our vegetable garden and  she knew what ingredients to place inside. My brother and I looked forward to the ice man. We would suck the slices of ice that fell of the big chunks.

  Ron borrowed my newspaper. He is the knight in shining armor who watches over Lady Barbara. He has traveled to most of our states in a bike. He is the only one who shovels the lunch in record time.  He wished to know the temperature today. A few minutes later he shouted, "Chicago is going to be ten degrees colder than Fairbanks, Alaska. Now Lady Barbara chimed in.
  "My Dog Caleb is aware of our drought. My German Sheppard has been killing bees lately. The bees are looking for flowers but with no rain, they are dying. My dog makes sure nobody comes close to our house - including bees."
  Lady Barbara's lift was about to arrive.  I sat her down and saw a bunch of preschoolers. Like the Pide Piper, I led them into the lunch room and played a few ditties for them.
  "If you are good, I will read to you a short story I am writing about a car named Dolly." The story will illustrate how a car is very much any growing child." 

 
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