So, with a weary yet curious heart, I looked up what that expression meant once I got back to my car. Mason and I learned this:
"Straight down the middle" means perfectly on target, without deviation - even if there's nothing "down" involved. "The defense tried to block her, but she took the ball straight down the middle."
Reading this description had me smiling as it made me think of all the times Dad just got down to business. He saw right through the BS if I was talking around an issue or behaving poorly. He called me out when I needed to face the music or if I was giving myself too hard of a time. He got to the point and didn't mince words. In a sense, Adam is like this, too - - especially if I'm taking too long to tell a story. "Too many words - just get to the point" was a sentiment expressed by my dad and currently by my hubby at times.
Speaking of getting to the point, last night's dream was a beautiful representation of getting to the point of bringing comfort. It was a busy sort of dream with a lot of action and changing scenes and activity from start to end. The beginning of the dream was glorious with seeing my Dad sitting in the front seat of his red tracker (this is going way back) with his left arm hanging out the window. He pulled up to where I was with a beaming smile on his face and his eyes all aglow with happiness. He slowed to a stop, leaned over slightly, looked me in the eye, and mouthed, "I love you very much". It felt like he had already departed for wherever he was heading, but looped back around to drive over to where I was standing on the sidewalk, just to share that message. The evening sunshine was pouring down on everything sharing its heat and brilliant light as the scene changed to a carnival atmosphere - almost like a First Friday event downtown. Next thing I know, I'm in a group with a family friend, Sue, and some other folks. We headed to Prime for ice cream that was part of this line up of a carnival like atmosphere when all of a sudden, I was ecstatic to see someone. I never got a clear image of who this person was but it was a woman dressed in bright colorful colors with amazing accessories. I ran over to the person, delighted to see her and be in her presence, then threw my arms around her for a hug. The group I was with eventually caught up with us and joined us in a happy reunion with the mystery person. A few minutes later, as we were all enjoying ice cream (I had a peanut butter cup sundae - - again the stuff dreams are made up of...ha!), I felt the urge to turn around....and boy was I thankful I did that as I reflected on the dream later because my beloved friend, Sha, was there! She was leaning against a wall, totally relaxed, with her arms casually crossed over her chest. She had a look of contentment on her face and peace just radiated from her. I motioned for her to join me next to the mysterious woman I was so thrilled to reunite with but she shook her head and motioned she was find where she was.
The joy I had been feeling from seeing Dad in such a familiar way in the driver's seat of his car followed by the overwhelming sense of gratitude and happiness at seeing whoever the mystery person was all became enveloped by peace and comfort when I caught sight of Sha. Both Dad and Sha were just a few feet away from me in my dream but I did not reach out to ether to try to hang on to them yet I felt SO connected with them. They both were just so happy and peaceful so I'm going to try to rest in that and emulate the joy and contentment that was felt so profoundly as I slept. Yes, this kind of dream that was experienced last night was a straight down the middle kind of dream...getting to the point, allowing brief glimpses of two people so dear to my heart, and driving home the reminder to lean into the joy rather than the sorrow, to consciously turn to the light rather than the dark.
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