D.

Thursday night

It was winter, and I'd run into Denise, a young woman that I'd known and liked for years, but had never dated. She was just out of college and had recently gotten her first apartment, so her life was on an upswing. My fortunes seemed headed in the opposite direction, at least temporarily. I was down on my luck -- not homeless or jobless or anything that severe, but broke -- so she was driving me to her place for a home-cooked meal. That was all, but that was enough. It was a kind gesture. There was still a bond of friendship and affection between us. I sat in the back seat of her car, and leaned forward to speak to her as she drove through some nameless big city. She was wearing a stocking cap, and her brown hair spilled out on both sides. I said, "Are you O.K.?" She thought for a minute and said, "Yeah, I'm O.K." I said, "That's good. I'm glad." She said, "It's good that you're glad."

*****

Denise is a real person, the younger sister of an old friend back in Virginia. I watched her grow up and was crazy about her for a time, but a five and a half year gulf in our ages made it impossible for me to ask her out. (I'm older.) The last time I saw her was in 1987, when she was in her first year of college. We lost touch after that. She's 39 now, still in Virginia.

That cryptic last conversation in the dream can be deciphered as follows: CPC: "Are you happy with your life now?" D: "Yeah, I am." CPC: "I'm glad." D: "Good. I'm glad that feel that way, and that you're able to move on."

Later

It occurred to me tonight that the Denise that I knew bore quite a resemblance to the young Susan Dey, Laurie Partridge on "The Partridge Family." I wonder why I never thought of that before? No wonder I liked her so much.