My father passed away recently, very unexpectedly at the age of 43.  He was heartbroken on the day he died because he had just buried his mother 2 days before.  When my father died I coudn't remember the last time I told him I loved him, and if he knew how much I loved him.  

Anyway, 2 days after he passed I had a dream that I saw him in a restaurant parking lot.  He was just sitting there alone...seemed to be waiting for something.  I approached him and hugged him.  I asked him if he knew how much I loved him.  He said yes, but he was expressionless.  Not sad really, but he just seemed kind of solemn.  My sister and I were going into the restaurant, but for some reason Dad didn't go with us.  It was almost like something kept him from going in.

I told him I would be out soon, and not to leave.  He just looked at me, expressionless.  When I came out he was gone.  

In weeks following I have had a few more dreams.  In each dream he seems happier than in the dream before.  

I'm just wondering what these dreams could mean.  Is he trying to communicate with me, or is it just my mind playing tricks on me.

It seems to me that he is trying to show you he is ok.

Perhaps he is gradually getting happier each time you dream because he is gradually coming to terms with crossing over?

Does this occur in the same parking lot each time?
Do you know of this place?

Symbolically the dream is pretty powerful actually.

He is still with you in the ["parking lot"/dream state] yet you and your sister can also go into the ["restaurant"/"mortal earthly life"].

He cant come into the restaurant anymore but that is just one location of the whole. You can see and hear him in the parking lot and he wants you to know this. It also symbolises that the the restaurant and its parking lot are just one "place" which is in a City which is in a Country.

Matt, thank you for your reply.  The funny thing is, the parking lot is familiar and not familiar all at the same time.  Does that make sense?  It seems familiar to me in the dream, but it doesn't seem familiar while I'm awake.

The parking lot dream left me with an uneasy feeling because he didn't seem happy.

I have only had the parking lot dream once that I can remember, although I wake up thinking about it often.  Each of the following dreams take place different locations (his house, family gatherings, etc).  In the following dreams, I hug him and tell him I love him each time.  He is smiling in these dreams.  But, I don't know he has died in these dreams.  It's like he never left.

I, too, thought that he was gradually becoming happier because he was gradually accepting his departure.

Hi flutterbug,
I sometimes meet people in meditations or dreams who seem to be a bit defocused, that is they say yes yes but it seems they don't be fully aware of the situation, other people out there are telling things which are not appropriate to the circumstances of our meeting. In your case, maybe your father has to settle, there's so many "new" things and he needs to get re-adjusted to his new old home, and traveling there probably needs some training so hopefully it can get better ?!

The other thing is, although you know your father already, you now get once again acquainted with your father and a new relationship is developing, because your father is in another state now. Isn't it that many people say they hadn't said "I love you" to their loved one when alive, but do it then, when the person has passed over? To tell about love for many people is easier to do in thoughts rather than to actually say it out loud. But in the afterlife, there is no place for shyness, politeness or shame, you just radiate it all out! So, that's one thing which is new in your relationship to your father.
Spooky

Spooky,
You are right on with the 'love' thing.  My father and I weren't very affectionate toward one another when he was alive.  Don't get me wrong, were were great friends, but "I love you" didn't enter into our conversations very often.  It was more of an unspoken understanding.  

In my dreams, we are very affectionate.  I hug, kiss, and tell him I love him everytime I see him. He doesn't really say much, if anything at all...but he is all smiles.  Could all of this affection be a form of making up for lost time on my part?

wrote on Feb 10^th, 2006 at 3:37am:

Spooky, Could all of this affection be a form of making up for lost time on my part?

Maybe on his part as well.

I think you dont know he has died in these dreams because in this state of consiousness he hasnt died at all.  
Dreams should really be given more credit In my opinion. I think they are a way for you to go over what you have experienced in the physical world but what part of "you" desires to do this?. It also doesnt mean they are only that. People have feelings they have never felt, see places they have never seen, fear dangers they have never experienced. They also allow people to re-unite with the consiousness of people that are no longer part of the physical world.

Matt, I sure hope you're right.  The mind takes us to some really interesting places while we slumber.  It doesn't make sense to believe that there's not some meaning or purpose behind it.  The Bible talks about dreams...and from what I remember, each dream was a vision from the Father.  So why not believe that each of our dreams are visions sent to us from God?

flutterbug,

 There are many reasons why it is not just hope alone that makes me believe that dreams hold more secrets than most people would think.

Precognitive dreams, Lucid dreams, recurring dreams are all examples of something extra or unknown to modern science. Mr. Monroe explains
"We are more than our physical selves". I think dreams allow us to get a glimpse of this.

Bruce's techniques exemplify what can be explored and how to explore it. Dreams for me are like a trailer to the movie of what Bruce can do.

Hi flutterbug,

>>>Could all of this affection be a form of making up for lost time on my part? <<<

In dreams as well as in some sort of meditations we can have got a more intense access to our past, and very often a situation of my past flashes up, and mostly it is something which I think I could have done better. This is, so it seems, the learning process here, everyday we do something what we later might think of as done wrong. But when we take it as a part of this special learning process, faults are the most normal things. In this regard, I like to think of the Bible's "Prodigal Son" story. It is quite the same principle.

So yes, you might be compensating in your dreams what you think you missed in your waking state physical world, and this is just fine in my view.
Spooky

Spooky & Matt,

I'm just waiting for a dream that makes sense.  One in which I can carry on a normal conversation with my dad to tell him we are okay and to affirm that he is okay.  Maybe even find out a little about what life on the "other side" is like.

Isn't it funny how dreams usually don't follow the same logic or chronology that physical expericences follow?  If dreams give us a glimpse, why are they so hard to understand....it's like we have to translate them in order to attempt to make sense of them.

wrote on Feb 11^th, 2006 at 1:47am:

Spooky & Matt, I'm just waiting for a dream that makes sense.  One in which I can carry on a normal conversation with my dad to tell him we are okay and to affirm that he is okay.  Maybe even find out a little about what life on the "other side" is like. Isn't it funny how dreams usually don't follow the same logic or chronology that physical experiences follow?  If dreams give us a glimpse, why are they so hard to understand....it's like we have to translate them in order to attempt to make sense of them.

Maybe the reverse is true. The way we express thoughts and feelings in a non physical reality are so simple and exact yet at the same time whimsical and creative.

Yet the physical reality of holding a conversation is only a human trait and is not exactly the easiest thing to do when compared to natural thought. Sure, we can get our message across to local communities yet cant even talk to our own species in another land if they are not using the same language! Even normal conversations with people with the same language can cause confusion and misunderstanding.

Yet if I want to see an apple in my mind it appears. If I want to sing a song in my mind it is heard.

I would imagine that converting images and sounds into a physical medium of conversation, and only a human physical medium at that, would be difficult for a non physical form.

How often do you think in monologue conversations during your daily life? ;D

Matt, so true.  Never really thought of it that way.  Thoughts, even while we're awake, don't seem to follow those physical rules either.  Thanks.