Remembering Colleen: Strange dreams and happy memories

Last night I dreamed I was driving on mountain roads, and stopped at a small gas and grocery store for gas. When I went to pay, the man who ran it tried to attack me. Suddenly my dog Colleen, who died 8 years ago, appeared, and knocked him to the ground. She stood over him, and every time he tried to get up she bared her teeth and growled at him.



I called the police, and while we were waiting some other people drove up.



"Can you see that dog?" I asked them.



They looked at me, confused. "The red dog? Errr, yes. Why?"



"Nothing," I said.



After the police came for him, I wrapped my arms around her. I remembered her: the way she butted me with her head when I hugged her. The way she tossed her chin and nose-bumped me instead of the slurpy kisses my deerhounds give. The way her thick red coat felt under my hands, the way she always put her front paws down with exacting precision while her her whole hind end wagged joyfully along with her plumed tail.



Then I woke up.

Comments

[ks]

This pet dream and the Daily Kos post are the best things I've read all day. Awesome.

[Karina A]

Christie, this made me sad in a good way since I think you've been blessed with a special connection with Colleen. It makes me wonder why I haven't had a dream of my lovely Sury for so long - she passed away about 10 years ago and I haven't dreamt of her for a long time now. This event of your shows that true and pure bonds with our four-legged pals do exist. Thanks for sharing!

[Christie Keith]

Okay, Lori, that LITERALLY made me laugh out loud!

[Lori]

Wow, it's like you have other interest besides pets. Weird, it's kind of like finding out your kindergarten teacher didn't sleep under her desk and wait for you to get there in the morning.



:O)

[Gina Spadafori]

Link to Christie's posts on Daily Kos

[Christie Keith]

Kathy and Lori, thank you so much... I have never posted anything like this here before, and I almost put in on my own blog instead. Not sure what made me put it on Pet Connection, but I'm glad you appreciated it.



Patrick: Thank you so much... I'm actually blushing!



Gina: Hmmm, somehow the 170+ comments on the dog breeder thread don't seem quite so impressive when you look at some of my DKos posts, LOL. Thanks for linking, although I hope people realize that Patrick's comment that they're barn burners means they're inflammatory -- enter at your own risk, Pet Connection folks!

[Lori]

You have a blog???



::Read in "I have mole?" voice of Richard Lewis in "Robin Hood, Men in Tights":: Too obscure?

[Christie Keith]

LOL... http://www.doggedblog.com

[Kathy B]

Oh Christie-

Those can be just the greatest dreams. When somehow you "know" that you have been visited by a special soul.

Bless you AND Colleen!

Kathy

[PBurns]

Perfect at every level. Nothing loved is every lost, and I believe that is true on both ends of the leash.



Also, a social shout out to you for your most recent (that I know of) piece over on Daily Kos. That was a barn burner, and said so well I sent it off to a dozen people. Hat's off!



Patrick

[Lori]

I love dreams. You get to be with people (and dogs!) you've lost, even if it is only for a bit. So what if it was "just a dream" she was there and you knew it. How much less we would be without those stolen moments that dreams give us.

[Colorado Transplant]

After my grey Persian cat died (the one without the pushed-in face), I had a dream that she was in my bike basket and we were having a joyous ride down a long hill, both feeling the freedom of the trafficless roadway and the joy of once again being together.



When I lost my cat, Bunny, I dreamt my deceased father came back and took her to heaven.



Are these dreams, are once again a chance to reconnect with loved beings?

[Amy]

Ok, this is not quite of the same vein, but I'll never forget it and I still think about it often.



My "grandma" had a stroke when I was in high school. She wasn't actually my grandma by blood, but I worked on a dairy farm for almost five years. It was my best friend's mom's small operation and both her mom and grandparents lived on the farm. I spent more time with grandma than anyone else in middle school, as best friend always had boyfriends and I felt more comfortable with grandma than anyone else. She'd drive me home after supper and we'd drive around for hours just talking. We often went to the Dairy Queen together. I loved her so much.



She was an incredibly energetic woman (and gave the best hugs. They'd even hurt a little because she squeezed so hard and meant it so much every time). No one saw it coming.



She was taken to the local hospital and then flown out to a larger one. We had hope that she would come back around, though she probably wouldn't have all her motor skills.



While she was at the larger hospital, I was the only one left at the farm to do the chores and milking. My friend's mom's boyfriend was around, but in the fields. One night I had a dream that Lady, the farm collie, died in her sleep and the very same moment that she died, grandma died. In my dream I knew it was the same moment, but I don't know how I knew it. In the dream the family and I were all talking about how odd it was that they both died at the same moment.



I woke up and went out to the farm to start milking. Lady didn't come down to the barn with me, but she had started doing that every once and a while since she was getting a little older. She usually came down while I was herding the cows back up to the barn from the pasture. Or came down sometime while I was in the barn so she could walk me back up to the house.



I checked outside the parlor door for her every couple of minutes. She didn't come down. After I finished milking, I made her breakfast and walked up to the house, calling her. She didn't come.



I checked under the steps, where she would normally sleep and she was there. She had died that night I had the dream, in her sleep. That night, my friend called me to tell me that her grandma hadn't shown any signs of improvement and the doctors didn't think she'd come back, so if I wanted to see her I needed to drive down there the next morning after milking.



I still think about this a lot. It kind of scared me at the time, but it was also comforting. Now I don't find it scary at all, just comforting. But definitely a bit odd!



Sometimes I think animals are the only things that really bring me comfort. Your dream is so beautiful. Maybe there's some sort of stress you have now and Colleen came to tell you she's still there for you. That may sound weird and creepy to anyone but me... I believe it though.

[Eucritta]

*blub*



I reckon too that as long as I remember them, those I've loved are with me still.



The last few years, I've had some trouble with neurological glitches. Along with the bad bits, though, have come moments of astonishingly vivid recall -- among them, of the cats I've lived with and loved, some of them gone more than 45 years. A silver lining, indeed.

[Anne T]

Your dream about Colleen made me misty in a good way. Your post on Kos made me misty in a very bad way.

My Body. My Choice.

[Janice in GA]

"Nothing loved is ever lost."



Yeah, that.



Your story made me cry. In a GOOD way.

[Marie]

After I lost my Shimo, unexpectedly and quickly, I had a dream that she was in. In the dream I knew she had passed away and I told her I was sad she wasn't with me anymore and that I wouldn't see her again. When I woke up I felt like it was her way of letting me say goodbye.



I don't think they are just dreams, I think in some cases they are visits. And yes I know how that makes me sound. (and I don't care)