Uh oh! I've got a feeling that this is going to be another one of my long posts.

Meredith & Maggie-- Thank you so much for your private messages. I sent both of you private replies.

Pam-- I was thinking the exact same thing today. My dad's father died when my dad was five; my mom's mother died when my mom was in her early 20's. I didn't know any of my grandparents. (I've always been intensely curious about all four of them, but especially those two.) Anyway, you're so right that spending time with Annie was good for both of us. What a role model she is!

Now...about dreaming.

Dreaming is such a personal thing. Who am I to tell people that they should enjoy it. So, Dianne, revel in your hate!

Dotsie-- My husband, like you, used to say he didn't dream; but we all have several dreams every single night. It's part of our biology. Scientists have a lot of theories as to why, but no one knows for sure.

I finally convinced my husband to try and remember his dreams. I had him jot down anything he recalled about them first thing in the morning before he lost the fragile threads. We've got a pad of paper on our nightstand, and he just writes down a few words. To his surprise, he discovered that he was, in fact, dreaming. I can't claim that he finds his dreams particularly therapeutic, but he enjoys them.

That said, I completely understand your desire to get every last wink of sleep you can and not wanting to feel any pressure about dreaming. I practice recalling mine because, for me, it's helpful and fun. If it weren't, I wouldn't.

Dian-- I'm glad you're laughing.

Chickadee-- Speaking of laughter, your postings always make me chuckle. And, speaking of lucid dreaming, here's a recent lucid dream I shared in my private reply to Meredith:

I don't remember how the dream started, but all of a sudden I became lucid and realized I was dreaming. I thought to myself, "Well, since I'm dreaming and can do anything I want, I think I'll fly to the moon and see how Earth looks these days." With that thought, I took flight Superman-style. The first thing I did once I was airborne was to look at the ground beneath me. I was traveling over some cordoroy-striped fields of alfalfa and thought to myself, "Wow. Those fields aren't real. This is a dream. Can you believe the glorious pictures my imagination is capable of creating? Then, I started slipping out of lucidity and little creatures started nibbling at my feet as I was flying. They felt like small rats, and the dream started to become a nightmare. But then I caught myself and realized I was still dreaming. The rats immediately turned into balls of fur with no teeth. Their nips now tickled rather than terrified me. I started laughing. Then, I noticed out of the corner of my eye three fighter jets coming to shoot me down, presumably concluding I was some type of UFO. But this time, knowing I was dreaming, I didn't even have a moment of fear. I just started dodging the jets, as if I were playing some no-stakes game. As soon as I began doing this, the jets disappeared. Then I took off for the moon and the stars. I woke up feeling so playful, so free.