Date: 6/30/2023 (Dream: Peculiar Work Assignment)

I was back in the office where I used to work. The work day was nearly over when my boss (who died over 10 years ago) gave me a work assignment. I thought it was a peculiar assignment. It was a news paper clipping. On the clipping was a picture of a large cow grazing on a big field. There were other images as well but I don't remember them. I was annoyed and told my boss that I was not an abstract thinker and did not appreciate being given work instructions that were not explicit. He walked away and I abruptly packed up my things and prepared to leave for the day. Then a younger co-worker who I did not know approached me and told me that they wanted to see me in the office. When I entered the office, my boss asked if I had brought the article with me. I was annoyed and said no but I would do the assignment and try to determine what the picture meant. He then gave me a copy of the news clipping but turned it over. On the back was the verbal instructions for the assignment.
Analysis
I was focusing on the external when I should have been focusing on the internal. The moral is not to judge a book by it's cover. I have been doing this recently.

Date: 11/4/2019 (Happy Packing)

Tonight while cleaning out a cabinet in my basement in preperation of moving, I find a Christmas ornament amongst some random pantry items. The ornament says Louise on it, my mother. Today just happens to be her birthday!

Date: 11/4/2018 (Happy Birthday Mom!)

On November 4th a memorial service was held at the Saint Peter and Paul's cathedral for police and fireman who died in the last year. I attended the mass with my wife and daughter. November 4th is also my mother's birthday. She died in 2008.

The service began with a reading of the names of all of the police and firefighters who had died in the past year. I noticed quite a few Brown's mentioned at the service. Brown was my mother's maiden name. Her first name was Louise.

After the church service we stopped at Wawa on 21 & Pennsylvania Ave to get some snacks to bring to my wife's aunt's house who we were going to visit. There was no parking at the Wawa so I dropped my wife off at the Wawa and told her to meet me out front while I drove around the block. When I turned around the corner, I passed a very tiny street. The name of the street was Shamokin Street. My mother was born and raised in Shamokin, Pennsylvania.

When we arrived at my wife's aunt's house, her aunt had set aside about 20 Store Chats pamphlets from Strawbridge department store. Store Chat was the monthly magazine that Strawbridge published for their employees. Our wedding picture is in one of them. While watching television, I randomly selected a magazine and thumbed through it. I came across a section of employees who had retired that year. The last name that was printed was a lady named Louise Brown.

All of this on November 4th.

Date: 9/16/2017 (Good by Uncle Joe)

When my brothers and I were kids, a trip to our Uncle Joe's barbershop was like visiting the playground. The shop had three barber chairs. Since my uncle was the only barber, two of the chairs were unoccupied. We had a great time spinning the chairs and using the lever on the side to raise and lower them. In the rear of the shop, against the wall was a magazine rack containing old DC comic books. I enjoyed reading about my favorite heroes Superman, Batman and the Flash. Uncle Joe never ordered any new comics so I was happy to read the same comics on every visit.

One of my favorite areas to explore in the shop was the drawer beneath the cash register. I wasn't searching for loose change but something much more valuable - Bazooka Joe bubble gum (my mouth is watering as I write this). The gum package displayed a red, white, and blue color scheme. The packaging included a small comic strip with the gum, featuring the character "Bazooka Joe". My uncle awarded each child with a handful of Bazooka Joe gum after each haircut. Of course I always got my share shortly after entering the barbershop.

Another reward for visiting Joe's Barbershop was Mountain Dew soda. My uncle had a soda machine in his shop filled with this tasty soft drink. After our visit, we were able to help ourselves to a few six packs of Mountain Dew to take home with us. We enjoyed the soda but I don't think our mother appreciated the hyperactivity that came with it. If you watch an old commercial for Mountain Dew you will see children swinging on ropes, jumping off cliffs and racing through the woods. We exhibited this same behavior but in our living room.

A funny thing happened the day after I learned of my uncle's passing. We were on our way to attend a Phillies baseball game. We had just entered I95 on our way to the ballpark. As the radio played, I heard a traffic report that there was a multi vehicle accident on South I95. I quickly took the next exit and detoured proceeding east towards Roosevelt Blvd. I stopped for a traffic light as I approached the boulevard. I looked to my left and a chill ran through my spine. I was across the street from Joe's Barbershop. Perhaps he was saying good-bye.

Date: 9/26/2016 (Dream - "Hello Mom")

I was driving by the house where I grew up on when I was a child. The lights in the house were on so I parked the car and walked up to the house. The kitchen door was opened so I entered. I saw my mother sitting in her chair at the kitchen table. This is where she sat when we had dinner and it was the same spot where she watched television in the evening and fed our pet dog chocolate treats. When I would enter the house after comming home from school the look on my mother's face would reveal if there had been a fight with her and my father. This melancholy look would tell if there would be peace in the house or unrest.

The next day when the mail I arrived, we received a catalog addressed to my mother. My mom never lived with us and we never received her mail in the past.

Date: July 2012 ("Noises in the Night")

We were planning a short vacation at the Jersey shore. Since neither my wife nor I had spent much time in Cape May, we decided this might be a nice spot to take our teenage daughters. We selected Elaine's Victorian Inn for our lodging. Elaine's seemed to be a good fit since it s located in the heart of historic Cape May, NJ, just a few blocks from the beach and one block from the quaint Washington Street Mall. Elaine's featured a larger room with two full size beds that would accommodate the four of us. Elaine's also included a full breakfast as well as a dinner theater. Since our youngest daughter participated in theater I knew she would enjoy seeing a live production.

We enjoyed our first day in Cape May. We visited the light house, and spent most of the afternoon on the beach. We had a nice dinner at the Mug and Mallet restaurant, and then spent a peaceful evening walking around the town and admiring the Victorian architecture.

That night I fell into a peaceful sleep most likely resulting from the exposure to the fresh ocean air. However, my rest was disturbed at approximately 1 A.M. to what sounded like the movement of table and chairs. I envisioned that the staff was hanging the chairs on the tables in order to maximize space for the nightly cleaning. This seemed to be a logical explanation since Elaine's is also a dinner theater.

The Inn has a fabulous bar. Phinney's Pub is a dark paneled room with an exquisitely hand carved bar taking center stage. On our second night we decided to have a couple of drinks at the bar before calling it a night. We became friendly with the bar maid and the time quickly passed as we engaged in friendly conversation. Before we said our goodnights the bar maid asked us how we were enjoying our stay. I replied that we were happy with our stay at Elaine's with the one exception being the noise from the clean up staff that woke the night before. She told me that was peculiar since the staff cleared out by 12 midnight each night and only the guest would be at the inn. She also said that other patrons had mentioned strange nightly noises as well.

One other oddity that we encountered at Elaine's was that my wife's cell phone battery was fully drained the next morning. This was strange since it was almost fully charged the previous night and she had never experienced a prematurely drained battery with this cell phone in the past. I had taken some picture of the night table where she kept her phone. Several images of orbs were floating above the table.

Date: 4/22/2008 ("Cowboy Ghost")

My daughter was scheduled to participate in the Penn Relays. This was quite an honor so I decided to skip my son's baseball game (which I help coach) to attend the relay competition with my wife and daughters. Our son was instructed to walk to the baseball field which is just a short distance from our house. At approximately 5:00 P.M., our son came downstairs to leave for the game. At that time he claims to have seen an aberration of one of my good friends who had passed away several months prior. Our son claimed the ghostly figure was wearing a cowboy hat and boots. My son did not know that my friend dressed this way on occasion. This experience frightened our son so he ran down the basement, got his baseball equipment, and left for the game.

Date: 1/22/2021 ("My Aunt and Uncle's House")

I have not dreamt about this house in year. My mom and I took my son to a T-Ball game. The ball field was across the street from my aunt and uncle's house. The house itself was no their just the lawn remained . Medal folding chairs were arrainged in rows and columns as if someone was going to speak. My aunt was there. Not my Aunt Rosemary who owned the house but my Aunt Rosemarie .

Analysis

My daughter and boyfreiend are looking to purchase their first house. I was thinking how nice the houses where my aunt lived were and how I had wished that my first house was like that.

Date: 2/9/2008 ("My Aunt and Uncle's House")

My wife and I were walking around the outside of my aunt and uncle's house. At this time my uncle still lived in this house. The house was decorated for Halloween. A Para-transit truck pulled up in front of the house and my uncle was escorted into his house. We looked through the open door and saw my uncle struggling his way up the stairs. We continued to walk around the neighborhood and a woman yelled for my wife to get of her lawn.

Analysis

During the day a Para-transit truck picked up my neighbor's father. February 10th is my cousin's birthday (my uncle's son).

Date: 3/5/2007 P.M. (Dream - "My Aunt and Uncle's" - House )

I was jogging with my daughter outside my aunt and uncle's house. I looked across the street and saw an old car (1960's model) parked next to the house. The doors of the house were open. My cousin was mowing the lawn and there were two young boys playing outside. We stopped and sat on a bench that was on the sidewalk facing the house. I noticed that my uncle was in the garage with his back towards me. He was wearing a brown plaid shirt, the kind I remembered him wearing.

Analysis

That evening I told my wife about my dad going to my aunt's funeral and speaking with my uncle. Since that time my dad never went back to visit with my uncle. I think the fact that my uncle had his back to me symbolizes his displeasure over the fact that I did not attend my cousin's funeral or that my dad had turned his back on him by not visiting with him after my aunt's funeral.

Date: 2/27/2007 P.M. (Dream - "My Aunt and Uncle's House" )

I was walking by aunt's house and noticed a couple of rugs hanging out on a clothes line. This led me to believe someone was home. Then I noticed two strange girls playing on the swing set in the back yard. I walked past them. Next I was in the house lying on a bed upstairs. My brother was there too. I saw pictures of my cousin. One was of her as a little girl in her school uniform. It was the same picture that was in my grandfather's house. The other picture was of my cousin and her husband. They were well dressed and standing in front of a pool table. I could hear my aunt talking; she said that there was no water on in the house. I was worried that she would come in to the room that I was in. My brother got up and left by walking down the stairs. He did not take his sneakers, socks or wallet.

Analysis

During the day I was reading a book that mentioned that President Bush had a daughter, Robin, which died of leukemia. I was also listening to a song called The Three Bells by the Brown brothers. My Aunt's maiden name was Brown, her daughter died of leukemia. She was one of the nicest persons I ever met.

Note

I include several dreams about my uncle's house because I continued to have re-occurring dreams about the house. These dreams stopped after my uncle passed away in July of 2008.

Date: October 12, 2003 ("Football Prediction")

In the wee ours of the morning, our 9 year old son wandered into our bedroom. I asked him what was the matter and he said that he had just been to a football game. Realizing that he was still involved with his dream I asked him what game he had been to. He stated that he was at the Archbishop Ryan high school football game so I asked him what the score was. He said that Ryan had lost 63 to 3. Mockingly, I questioned if the score was not 63 to 10. He said no it was 63 to 3, and went back to bed. Two days later, on Monday morning, I was off from work for the Columbus Day holiday. At the breakfast table I thumbed through the newspaper until I came upon the prior day high school football scores. A chill ran up my spine as I read Cardinal O'Hara 62 Archbishop Ryan 6.

Date: Summer, 1982 (Ghostly Visit - "Thank You Good Neighbor" by Diane Pascali)

Living on Knorr Street was a fabulous way to grow up. Every neighbor knew each other and friendships developed, some have lasted a lifetime and others enriched you. It was a time when people always had time to say hello and ask if you needed anything. In most cases, it was just being polite but when you needed something, neighbors were friends who were willing to give their help and time.

Sharing steps was more than a piece of concrete, it was a connection. Our step neighbors were Ralph and Sara Sasaloff. They were there when we moved in during 1966, they may have been original owners. By the time we moved in, their only daughter was grown and I believe already moved out. She didn't live far and visited often. I recall Mrs. Sasaloff always standing at the screen door looking out, she just liked to watch what was going on outside. As children, my mother would sometimes tell us not to run across her lawn but that was pretty hard to do when you best friend lived in the house next to hers. I really don't think she minded as she enjoyed to sounds of children playing.

I don't remember what Mr. Sasaloff did for a living but I can see him in my memories wearing work clothes, a type of uniform that my father wore as well. My father would call them his "blues" although Mr. Sasaloff's were more like "greys".

Around the time that I was a senior in high school, Mr. Sasaloff took ill, it was leukemia. This was 1982. He was a quiet man and never had a bad word for anyone. He spent so much time in the hospital that we really did not see much of him once he was sick. My father was a bus mechanic who always worked the night shift, midnight to eight. Because of this schedule he was home during the morning hours until he went to sleep around two pm.

Mrs. Sasaloff, like many women of that generation did not drive and her daughter worked during the day. She asked my father, since he was home, if it would be possible for him to drive her to Rolling Hill Hospital every day so that she could spend whatever time she could with her beloved Ralph until her daughter would arrive at night and drive her home. This went on for many weeks. At no time did my father refuse Sara her ride and he never asked for anything in return. Sadly Mr. Sasaloff passed away.

I remember that it was in the summer, it was hot outside. We only had one air conditioner so when it was hot we as a family slept in the same room. My mother and father on the bed and my sister squeezed in the middle. I always slept on the floor in a sleeping bag on top of a few blankets for some cushioning. It was already light outside when I remember waking up and looking around to see if anyone else was up. My mother and sister were no longer in the room, just my father and I. John was snoring as usual but I noticed that the door was slightly opened, I thought that maybe our dog Terri got out but then felt her curled up by my feet. I was then drawn to look again at the door when I saw Mr. Sasaloff standing there waving. He was only there for a few seconds. I couldn't believe it, he was actually standing there in our house even though I knew for certain that he had died the day before. I am convinced that he came to thank my father for driving Sara all those times to the hospital. Ralph was grateful and came back to show his apperception in an unassuming way, just as he lived as a neighbor on Knorr Street.

by Ray Pascali