I sometimes have a recurring dream of being in my former home state, either as a child still living with my parents, or as an adult moving back there. I don't consider these dreams pleasant, as I moved 3,000 miles away from there for a reason! In fact, the last time I visited, the trip was a fiasco, and I left there saying I would never cross the Kentucky state line again. That was 2 1/2 years ago, and I meant it although my family didn't believe me at the time.

But the dream I had the other night stood out from the crowd.

Some real-life background to set the stage: I have an uncle who took over the family business from my grandparents, and essentially ran it into the ground. He ended up deep in personal debt and had to sell the business to pay it off. The uncle is a bit of a jerk anyway, and is a major part of the reason I won't go back. As for his character, he's in his 50's and has never lived anywhere other than with family or in the apartment at the family business, for any length of time, nor has he ever had any other job besides the family business, for any length of time. I have little respect for him because he has worked for nothing on his own but has been handed everything he's ever had. And then what he was handed, he ruined. Worst of all, he now has power of attorney over my grandmother's affairs and is slowly bleeding her dry.

So I dreamed I bought the business back (where I got the money, I don't know) and fixed it up, and restored it as a pleasant family hangout as well as a business. Hubby and I moved into the apartment above the shop, that the uncle had been living in before he sold the business and moved back in with my grandmother. The only thing that made hubby uncomfortable was the fact that the apartment had only one restroom, and he always wants a place with two (this is true in real life.) In case a toilet breaks down, he wants a backup while he's waiting for the plumber. So I pointed out that there would be a backup--he could always go downstairs and use the one in the shop. With that, hubby was happy to move into the apartment. He got a job doing what he has been doing for 25 years; driving a city bus. But now he was doing it for my old home town, not the city we live in now. The uncle then began working for me, as did other family members that my uncle had refused to train when he was running things.

Everyone in the dream, including myself, was entirely out of character. The family never listens to me, yet here they were, all doing my bidding. I never take control, simply because they *don't* listen, and yet here I was running the show and getting results. It was the happiest back-home dream I ever had.

What can anyone make of it?