This is my 82-year-old father’s dream. He has a form of cancer, and no longer drives because he is losing his eyesight. On Saturday he told me of a dream he had. He dreamt that I was on the side of his bed, and I said to him, “Hi, dad.” He tried to focus, but I faded away. Then he saw two gloved hands, but in one you could see the bones. That glove faded out, and only the other was left. –Maria, Stockton, CA

Lauri: The way you fade in his dream is a reflection of his world right now—everything in it is fading from his vision. Hands in dreams are about one’s ability to “handle” what is happening, as well as one’s ability to give and receive. Gloves block our sense of touch and therefore reflect that he feels he is “losing touch” with how life used to be. When someone suffers from cancer, the bones become more prominent. And we tend to see our own hands more than any other part of our body. The fading of the bony gloved hand, again, reflects the way everything is fading, but what remains is what his dreaming mind wants to leave him with: the capability to give and receive love.

Maria replies: Thank you so much. I think you really hit it right on. It is comforting to at least know that he does feel the love my mom and I are giving him. He tells my mom and me how grateful he is that he has us, because without us he might not have made it through.