Vivid Dreams

I had an incredibly vivid dream last night. All of my dreams are vivid, at least the ones I remember. I’ve never had a dream that I knew was a dream.

Most of my dreams are strange, I travel through a string of locations that are mixtures of places I’m familiar with, I dream about people that I’ve maybe not thought of in years. I wake from those feeling confused and tired. I’ve also had some x-rated dreams that I will not go into detail about...but I woke one morning feeling an appreciation for the Jason Bourne movies…

The dream I had last night was different. It was in one location that was not diluted with any other place, and unfamiliar in a sense….it was a theater. All the people were strangers, save one. This one person was someone I think about on a very regular basis…though we’ll never meet. Who was it? My friends and family will not be surprised...Gene Kelly. But I have NEVER had a dream about him before…ever.

I’ve admired him for decades (good grief I can’t believe that “decades” is an accurate description). Since I was very young I’ve had pictures and posters of Gene Kelly in my room. I never had posters of anyone except him. Even now, pictures of Gene Kelly hang in my house….I can’t open the refrigerator or use the downstairs bathroom without seeing him (that only sounds a little weird, right?). In high school, I was dating a boy who got a hold of Gene Kelly’s address for me. So I wrote and waited…nothing. My boyfriend wrote too, and received two responses, one from Gene Kelly and then six months later a letter from his widow…I never received one reply. I will never forget the day he passed away. February 2 1996, my senior year of high school. Part of my grief was teenage angst to be sure, but some was real when it became clear that no matter how much of a fan I was, I would never meet him.

In my dream last night, I met him. As I left the theater where I had been watching a rehearsal, I met him at the theater door. In my dream it was an Oprah-like surprise. He was there to see me, because I was such a big fan. In my dream I couldn’t speak only weep. Finally I managed to say “I am your biggest fan” through my tears. He laughed and said, “I can tell.” That was it. That was my dream. I imagine that had I ever actually met him, my reaction would have been no different.

I finish this post with links to two of my favorite Gene Kelly scenes:

 I Got Rhythm, An American in Paris

Mexican Hat Dance, Anchors Aweigh

I suppose there is no small coincidence that these are scenes with children, considering how far back my admiration goes...decades.  (wow, it still seems impossible that I can use that word!)