It's 3:15 in the morning.
I awoke from a dream in which I saw my father again.
I was on my knees tending a garden at my grandmother's house. Except it wasn't his mom's house; it was my mom's mom's house. But my grandma (his mom) was inside. We were both waiting anxiously because we knew he was going to arrive. There was snow all around the exposed patch of earth that I was working.
Dad pulled into the driveway in his truck, the early-70s gold model. He glanced over at me and then stared at the steering wheel, obviously overcome with emotion.
I made my way to the car, feeling choked up, too, but also very excited and happy.
He got out of the truck. He acted a little slow and dazed, which seemed appropriate for a man who's been dead for 30 years. He looked good, though. Just like in the pictures.
Grandma rushed out of the house to greet him.
I can't remember what was said, or even if we embraced. I woke up before we could really get to talking.
It was a pleasant dream, if frustrating. It felt very real, but not real enough.
A Chicago Tribune Best Book of the Year
A Publisher's Weekly Best Book of the Year
One of Kansas City Star's 100 Noteworthy Books of the Year
Winner of the William Rockhill Nelson Award for Nonfiction
Winner of the Harry Chapin Media Award
. . .
Forget the nerdy reputation that debate has. Instead think of a scenario as exciting as a sports game with high stakes like triumphing over racism. bad politics and abject poverty... An important, thoughtful and provocative look at race and class in America.
- The Boston Globe
Joe Miller's enthusiasm is infectious and the plot creates the suspense of a good courtroom thriller.
- Entertainment Weekly
The minute I finished Joe Miller's Cross-X, I held the book out in front of me -- amazed, rapturous, and hopeful... Miller's mesmerizing, vivid accounts of the debates will leave you crouched in your seat, holding your breath... An incredibly powerful, daringly hopeful book.
- Minneapolis Star-Tribune
Irresistible... Miller begins breezily but is soon deeply invested in the Central squad's mission to not only master the debate game on its own terms but revolutionize it with flashes of poetry and hip-hop wordplay... If all these kids could run things, Miller implies, imagine what could get done.
- Elle
1 comment:
Its been a long time, but I used to have a similar dream about your dad. The details of where and the garden thing are different, but the anticipation and the arrival sound similar.
I did a lot of dream work some years ago, and a good question to ponder is 'what aspect of myself do each these people represent?' I've found it almost impossible to tease the answers out by myself (a good therapist who works with dreams is rare, but amazing), but I've found that dreams - at least ones with huge emotional content like this - are always true, and always true at several layers of meaning. But you're the only person who can really figure it out.
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