“Hey, honey. Anything good on this week? How a about a good comedy?” I ask my husband.

“Well, there’s Two and a Half Men.”

“Ugh. I can’t watch Charlie Sheen. His rap sheet is longer than the number of diets I’ve tried and failed.”

“OK. How about, 30 Rock?”

“No, I can’t get that nasty phone message Alec Baldwin left for his daughter out of my head. How about a drama?”

“Well, there’s 24.”

“With Keifer Sutherland?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh, is it back on? I wasn’t sure if he was out of jail yet.”

“Yeah, he’s out.”

“Pass. What about sports?”

“Well, Tiger is playing again. Wanna watch golf?”

“Are you kidding me? I’m still kicking myself for buying that picture at the football auction of him and Michael Jordan on the golf course. Ah, forget about TV. Give me the newspaper.”

“Sure. Here you go.”

“Oh, look at this. Another priest is being accused of being a pedophile.”

“Great.”

“Yeah, and are you ready for this. Some high school coach slept with one of his players.”

“What’s wrong with these people?”

“I dunno, but it’s pretty darn depressing. I mean, who do these kids have to look up to? When I was a kid my idols were Lucille Ball and Carol Burnett. I don’t know if they led stellar lives, but they certainly look like angels compared to these people. Who was your idol?”

“Bobby Orr. He was incredible. And, he still seems like a good guy.”

“Yeah, it’s a sad, sad, world we live in today.”

“You got that right.”

“Hey Tyler, can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Who’s your idol? Well, I never really thought about it, but I don’t think I really have one.”

“See. Even he realizes there’s nobody to look up to.”

“What about us?” my husband dryly inquires.

“Yeah, Tyler, what about us?”

“You can’t look up to your parents. I mean, you’re my…my…parents.”

I give up!

Anyway, I often share my dreams with friends and family, but what always astounds me is what happens when I turn the question around and ask, “What are YOUR dreams?” I asked my husband this very question the other day. “Honey, if you could have any life you wanted, what would it look like?” Of course, first I warned him that it had to include me and not some 25-year old bimbo, which led to a very long, and uncomfortable pause.

“I dunno.”

“Oh c’mon, what do you mean you don’t know?”

“Well, I’ve never really thought about it.”

“What do you mean you never really thought about it? You mean, you’ve never really dreamed?”

“Well, maybe I have, but I don’t really remember what they were.”

“Are you kidding me? Wow. How did we end up together again?”

So I started asking my friends the same question and was getting similar responses. What was going on? Here I thought dreaming was like chocolate. Everybody loves chocolate; doesn’t everybody love to dream? Apparently not.

Then I asked my kids. “I dream about being an only child by elimination or default” was my eldest son’s response. Well, it was an honest answer, but….So I asked my younger son. “I dream about shape-shifting into anything I want even if it’s totally made up.” OK. Well, although their dreams weren’t exactly realistic, at least they had them.

So, that made me wonder. Why don’t some adults dream? Are they just so happy with their lives they don’t feel the need to dream or is it the opposite? That they’ve kind of given up and are just “going through the motions” until they die. Yikes! Now that’s a scary thought. I sure hope that’s not the case.

Here are some of the things I dream about.

I dream about moving to a warmer climate. Although Groton is a beautiful town, after 45 years of living in the Northeast, my love and tolerance of the cold and snow has gone from, “Isn’t it pretty?” to “Can somebody check? I think my toes and fingers just fell off.”

I dream about building a post and beam home someday. It doesn’t have to be a big home. Just a very functional, aesthetically pleasing home with character. Chalk this up to mass construction of new homes. What ever happened to craftsmanship and creativity? If you ever follow the real estate pages, you’ll notice all the houses around here start to look alike after awhile. Boring!

And lastly, I dream about going on a mission trip to a third world country and helping the people who live there. If I could do that, then I would feel like I’ve really accomplished something meaningful.

Some of these things I know I can start working on now, and you can too. But first, you must dare to dream. So, grab a pen and paper and start writing. Oh yeah, and don’t forget the chocolates.

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