Mr Sandman Bring Me a Dream

I have had my share of nightmares. For awhile I wrote down my dreams, and some of them were hilarious. Most made no sense. Well, I think I've been sleeping better since I have the CPAP machine for the sleep apnea, and lately my dreams are getting more vivid. Some seem so real. Last night I had a very real one.
I was eight years old, and was out in my back yard. There was a swing my daddy made in a big oak tree, a sandbox my daddy built, and a playhouse he also built. He liked to do things like that, building things. But the personal relationship type stuff he never figured out. I was always a little afraid of him. I've heard the fights he and my mom had. But I'm getting off the subject.
In my dream, I'm in the backyard, and my step-dad is there. We are playing with some puppies my Daddy's hunting dogs had. They were cute and wiggly and I loved trying to hold them while they squirmed to get away. My step-dad was laughing at how much fun I was having. When I looked at his face, I could tell he was glad I was so happy, and his face showed that. Then he stood up and held out his hands to play my favorite game. I gave him both my hands, which he clasped above my wrists. Then he began to run in a circle swinging me in a big arc around him. I squealed and giggled and loved it. Every time he stopped, I'd beg him to do it again, and he would.
When I woke up, I realized that my dream was true. That day actually happened. It's a day I had totally forgotten about, or at least not thought about in many, many years. But dreaming it made me remember how he used to play with me, and how much I loved him. This was before he was my step-dad. He was just a friend of our family. But I felt closer to him then than I did my dad. And I felt more loved.
I gripe and complain a lot about my relationship with my dad and how I wish it had been better. But when Cathy lost her dad lately, I began to think about that a lot. And I realized, I was given a gift of a father who wasn't even my father. God saw I needed someone and he sent this man into my life. And even though I had a tough time with the divorce, I was much better off with my mom and him than I would have been with my dad and mom fighting all the time. She was happier, too.
I guess I overlook sometimes the blessings I've had. And sometimes it takes a dream to bring it all back. I wish I had more dreams like that. I woke up feeling wonderful and it lasted all day.