Friday, January 21, 2011

Not a Dream

I had another dream about Hudson last night. In this one, we were on an open-air train of some sort. It seemed like a Tweetsie Railroad touristy kind of train, but it was on a very long track alongside a river with a highway up above it. I was sitting on the floor of the train, next to a bench that I could have been sitting on, nursing my sweet girl. Another mom was sitting on the bench trying to help me figure out how to pump on the other side while I nursed (why we would be doing this on a scenic train ride, I have no idea). The sun was shining on us.

Then, in the next “scene,” she was gone. I was still sitting on the floor of the train, but Hudson wasn’t. I stood up and screamed, “STOP THE TRAIN! MY BABY IS GONE!” And the train screeched to a halt. I had no idea what could have happened to her. Did she bounce out? Did someone swipe her? I climbed over the edge of the train car and jumped onto the ground and started running in the opposite direction of the train. About a hundred yards back, a man standing beside some kind of shack down by the river (maybe he was selling something?) yelled to me, “Here she is!” I ran down and found her sitting happily in a galvanized tin bucket full of magazines, waiting for me as if nothing had happened. I think she was wearing the pink bodysuit and denim jumper dress that she wore last Easter. I swept her into my arms and hugged her so tight, relishing how good it felt to hold her. I felt awful because this was the second time in the dream that I had lost her (I don’t remember the details of the first part—only that I couldn’t find her then, either). I worried what people would think about a mother who could lose her child twice in a row. I wondered why I couldn’t seem to keep her with me. And I hugged her tighter.

And then I woke up. My first reaction was relief that I had been dreaming and that I hadn’t really lost her.

And then I had the awful realization, yet again, that it wasn’t really a dream. That I did lose her. Except the real version doesn’t have the happy ending. So I squeezed my eyes tight and just tried to remember her face in the dream and be grateful to have seen her.  Instead of the tight hug, that image is all I get.

8 comments:

  1. This just breaks my heart. I am so, so , so sorry you have to experience her loss in your sleep. I wish so much that you could just stop the train.

    Hannah

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  2. I am so sorry. I can only imagine how awful this is and it still breaks my heart.

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  3. In one of my dreams recently, you and I were shopping for double strollers while Hudson and Emma were at day care. It was so normal, so natural. I just don't know...

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  4. Oh, Mandy, how awfully heartbreaking. I am so, so sorry. It is just unfair.
    Claire

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  5. This breaks my heart. I've had similar dreams since my mom died a few years ago. In them I am left bereft, confused and wondering how in the world I could possibly explain to my siblings how I'd lost her. I have a clue as to how you might feel, but I know it must be much more heartwrenching to dream it about your little girl. Beaming the hope of good dreams your way.

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  6. Oh, Mandy, there are no words... no words to comfort, no words to change this. Just wanting you to know that I am here, reading and crying along with others, sending you love and support. And, I am awed by your ability to hold the two up simultaneously... grief/sadness/pain and yet looking for the gift... the gift of the image of Hudson's beautiful face from your dream. Her face, after you found her, saying Mama, I am here. And, I am OK.
    And, I want to reiterate that your sharing your experiences and responses and your pain and struggles is a gift to the world, a gift I wish, wish, wish you were not in the position to share. But, a gift none-the-less.
    Sending you love, and a hope for peaceful sleep tonight.
    Rachel

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  7. It's that waking up that hurst the most isn't it? In the first few days home from the hospital I used to think that I still *might* wake up one morning and find Cullen's death to be a long and twisted nightmare. No such luck- every morning was worse than the last.

    If there is one thing to take from your dreams it is the feeling of her body in your arms- it is not something you can feel when you are awake anymore, but I can't help but think that maybe feeling her in your dreams might be just one more thing she is giving you..

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  8. I think that when you found beautiful Hudson sitting in a bucket, smiling, she was letting you know that she happy and safe. And, that you can let go of a bit of your grief.

    Peace

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