Oh Roy…you were in my dream last night.  Why?  How? How long has it been since I heard your soothing baritone?  Seen the trenches of your forehead, your dark, bushy brows, rolled my eyes at your deadpan humor?  Too long, and too long.

I heard you in my dream, Roy, saw you just as I left you, a quiet smile and gentle heart.  How is it we trained in the martial arts?

Roy, you were wearing a light blue t-shirt and what looked like silky Adidas track pants.  We greeted each other in a parking lot surrounded by buildings, maybe dorms or dwellings of some sort.  You were smiling.  You were speaking, making those subtle hand gestures, telling your tale. I never spoke, and though I cannot make out what each word was, it had the same rhythm and cadence of a man who was telling a good story, one that had a funny (or wry) punchline at the end. Other people came to meet up with us, but I don’t recognize them.

All I know is that when I woke this morning I was in awe of how real it felt, then feeling so blessed and happy to hear your voice again. How can this happen?  Why did you come to me? Was this just some random electrical confabulation my neurons assembled while my body was down for recharging?  How could those neurons make me remember every detail of you, as if we were both really there, and more importantly, why?  What do I do with the memory of you, who left us long ago?

I recall me and Butch discussing dreams, and for a man with all his faculties he made me wonder (happily) when he suggested that maybe dreams were real. Alternate realities. It was something I needed to hear in that time of my life. Here was a man I loved and respected, his feet firmly on the ground, but he suggested to us that dreams could be real?  Whatever the means of your revelation to me I feel blessed to see you, Roy, and hear you, truly hear you, like you were standing by my shoulder like we used to.  I’m not sure what to do with you, but I suppose it will come in time.  For now I will feel sad that we can’t conjure who we want, when we want, in our dreams. For now I will be grateful for another moment with you and keep all my dream channels open for any who will come.