I was walking down the street wearing my Malcom X t-shirt and this white girl said, “Hey, I like your Martin Luther King shirt!” While chuckling I replied, “Thanks, this is the Maclom-X edition.”

From out of nowhere my friend shouts, “Dat ain’t Martin Luther King you stupid idiot” She looks back at me, I shrug my shoulders and said, “Well, how could you not recognize Chris Rock. She replied, “Oh yeah! Yeah! That’s it! I thought he looked familiar.”

Definitions:
Ignorance: Lack of knowledge, education or awareness.
Bliss: Extreme happiness; ecstasy.

The moral of the story is: (1) Unless looking like a total idiot gives you an extreme feeling of happiness, ignorance isn’t bliss. (2) ….and no, all black people do not look alike! (3) white ignorance on black history, when will they learn; literally!

Written by Keelan Forsythe Copyright © All Rights Reserved, Image Credit: Untitled image by LunaMoth116 Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic License.

I was walking down the street wearing my Malcom X t-shirt and this white girl said, “Hey, I like your Martin Luther King shirt!” While chuckling I replied, “Thanks, this is the Maclom-X edition.” From out of nowhere my friend shouts, “Dat ain’t Martin Luther King you stupid idiot”

I previously wrote about a series of dreams that I had, this is an accounting of the true-life events that followed and their interpretations; brace yourself!

If you really want to be blown away by this story, read part 1 first, Premonitions in dreams dream wedding funeral two homes sharks meaning. (click HERE)

The Interpretation of ‘Grandma’s Funeral’
FUNERAL – (1) To go to the funeral of a relation or friend is a good sign to the dreamer, who will either inherit property or marry into money. (2) If you see a particular person attending the funeral either that person or some friend of his will die and leave you something. (3) To dream of a funeral service denotes an inheritance.
CRIES – If the cry is one of despair, as in the case of shipwreck or fire at sea, either you or your wife will in due course gain a great deal by speculation.

The Interpretation of ‘The Wedding’
WEDDING – To dream of being married, or a wedding, is a very unfavorable dream especially for lovers. It denotes the death of a near friend or relation, with loss of property and severe disappointments.

The Interpretation of ‘Shark Attack’
SHARK – (1) To see a shark pursuing and attacking you, denotes that unavoidable reverses will sink you into despondent foreboding. (2) To dream of sharks, denotes formidable enemies.

The Dream of ‘Two Homes‘ needed no interpretation…

The Actual Events That Occurred…

I received a phone call from my father’s ex-girlfriend Elaine, (we had never met or spoke before) she told me he had passed on. A few days later I left by airplane for his funeral. Upon landing I had to go to baggage claim and in order to do so I boarded a shuttle; the shuttle’s appearance and the view were exactly as it was in my dream.

A few days after the funeral I asked Elaine if she knew of a woman my father dated, a woman he claimed harassed him repeatedly, destroyed his precious flower garden, stalked him and caused him to be a prisoner in his own home. She laughed and said, “Your father is crazy, he is talking about me, but he always exaggerates the story.”

As time went by I was able to meet some of my dad’s friends and they all knew of Elaine. They shared many tales using the word “evil” to describe her and spoke of her repeated attempts to “take his home” from him; they all told me the home she now lives in, is that of my father; a mistake that haunted him. This was rather disturbing because none of them knew each other. Furthermore, they were all in and out of his life during different periods and I met them all individually, not as a group; one of them was a pastor.

None of them knew of my father’s passing; my father’s funeral was attended by Elaine, her family and I. She denied his loved ones the opportunity to say goodbye; she told me not to post a notice in the newspaper, she said, “no one is going to come, your father kept to himself; he didn’t have any friends.”

Bear in mind Elaine broke the news of my father’s death, paid for my airfare and accommodated me in her home; she treated me very well. As the days passed I was bothered by the many stories she shared about my father; she described someone I did not know; I did not believe her but said nothing. I asked many questions and caught her in many lies; I said nothing and did not show my hand.

When I returned to my country, I began sorting through dad’s things, I discovered many official and personal documents proving each and every story my father and his friends had shared with me about her, for those reasons I believe she was the shark in my dream; she was also the one who was knocking on my door when I awoke from that dream.

I spent much time agonizing over that and “How am I going to pay two rents?” I decided, “My family would never be in peace living in that home; it would be a constant reminder of my father’s pain and suffering and I couldn’t live with that and all the drama that came with it.

I inherited my father’s home by speculation for there was no Will and although the mortgage was very low, I was unable to make the payments; it simply was out of my budget. This really frustrated the woman whom I had left an extra set of keys; she did not have to care for the property nor watch over it, someone else was left to do that.

I had to endure her constant complaints/concerns that the bank would foreclose and that Elaine and her family were repeatedly trespassing and trying to break into the house; these complaints kept coming although I repeatedly made it clear my current home and family were my priorities. When I could no longer endure it I sent a letter via her daughter hoping and praying she would bring her mother into the light; leave it alone.

The letter stated, “…If the bank is going to take everything so be it. If I am unable to return and recoup some of my things I accept that. The things in the house are just that; things!  The only thing I would want is the painting of my father’s grand uncle and again I accept if I cannot get to it in time. As for Elaine and her family I can not and will not loose any sleep over them and/or get caught up in all that drama; it is not my character.  I just really need to be at peace and leave it ALL in God’s hands; I trust him completely and whatever he has in store for me, I accept and I ask that you do the same. The letter came today and is now in the hands on a lawyer. I PROMISE to communicate with you; I will send emails.”

Her daughter after confirming in writing the receipt of the above letter replied, “Since we did not hear from you and worried that the notice that mom sent you by mail stating they were going to dispose of the property and contents thereof by Feb 10.  Therefore my mom went ahead got a storage facility and dismantled the beds, dining table, and removed the dishes and chinaware from cupboard etc and packed them into boxes and made arrangements with the deacons from the church to remove all of your belongings that we thought were of value to you on Tuesday February 9th to the storage facility at a cost of $35 a month to my mom hoping that you would return one day soon.”

Her response infuriated me! Not only did she deny me the right to closure and peace as requested, but she also attempted to impose an expense that was not discussed with me at any time.

Following that email she left a phone message stating that the bank had now foreclosed on the house, changed the locks and all the things I left behind are in the house “as I did not take her advice and let her put the things in storage.” The neighbors however claim my car is sitting in the middle of her driveway and she placed my things in storage. I have not yet responded to that message and have no intention of doing so.

Had I been skilled in the art of interpreting my dreams, I could have spared myself a whole lot of emotional, physical and spiritual pain; had I known Elaine was the woman my father often spoke about, I would have never given her access to his bank account and I would have demanded an autopsy. Elaine was alone with my father when he died in his home; by law an autopsy should have been done.

Dad, I have cried many tears for you for I am so deeply sorry for the pain and suffering you had to endure. I fought the fight dad, and now its over; the truth has now been told. RIP now daddy. RIP.

Written by Antoinette Forsythe Copyright © All Rights Reserved, The interpretations are as given by the dream book ‘The Classic 1000 Dreams’ by foulshm, Image Credit:  premonition by Michele Diodati Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic License.

How was my Mother’s Day for 2010? Well, I didn’t receive a bouquet of fresh flowers. I’m pretty sure I’d remember breakfast in bed. Dinner and a movie, nope, didn’t get that either. I’m looking in my closet and there are no gifts that made me say, “Wow this is great son; a gal can never have too many flowered printed blouses from the 60’s; these will keep mommy young! All I need now is a hippie to go with the whole ensemble.”

The only thing left is the dreaded Hallmark card with those cliché Mother’s Day poems of famous quotes; ugh!

What did I receive for Mother’s Day? Well, you’re looking at it; my 18 year old son gave me a hand-made card with his own words thoughts and feelings. Words that made me feel appreciated, valued, loved, honored, understood and respected; I received the best Mother’s Day gift in the whole wide world; something without a price tag, from the heart and soul; priceless!

I love you son; thank you for making every day of my life worth living.

Love Mom

Written by Antoinette Forsythe Copyright © All Rights Reserved, Image Credit: Mother’s Day 2010 by Keelan Forsythe Copyright © All Rights Reserved

Me The Clueless Depressant – What an idiot! Everybody on the block knows when this man leaves for work and when he comes home from work; why the hell doesn’t he just put up a sign saying hey thieves rob me now! Why does his doorbell have to be so damn loud! I’m trying to get some sleep! What the hell?!?!

Out of the Mouths of Babe – Ma (laughing), that’s not a doorbell.

Me The Clueless Depressant – What do you mean? It’s that moron down the street! His stupid door chimes every bloody morning when he leaves for work; it drives me crazy!

Out of the Mouths of Babe – Ma, it’s the school bell; it doesn’t ring like a regular school bell. It sounds like a door chime and rings every half an hour every single day, on the weekends, and even in the summer time.

Me The Clueless Depressant – Whaaaat! Are you serious? Oh my goodness! Are you sure? Ha ha ha ha ha ha haaa! Man, I really need to leave the bat cave more often; damn depression; talk about detached. That is hilarious, and here I am calling the man a moron; who’s the moron now! Haaaa ha ha ha ha; that’s one for the books!

Written by Antoinette Forsythe Copyright © All Rights Reserved, Image Credit: Cat or Alien by kaibara87I Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License.

I am going to share with you a series of dreams that occurred over a period of a few months; had I been skilled at the art of dream interpretation and their meanings, I would have known that they were in fact premonitions.  Feel free to share your interpretation or thoughts by posting a comment. In my next blog I will share the events that followed.

(1) Grandma’s Funeral – I had a dream that my paternal grandmother passed away. This was very strange because I had never met her and she had already passed. I was aware of her name, a few details, and not much more. At the funeral I cried and cried which was considered normal but what was odd, was my insistence on standing next to the coffin while the funeral director propped her into a sitting position, thus allowing someone to take a picture of us. The other thing that was odd was the overwhelming sadness I felt at the funeral given that I did not know her at all; I was all over her. I thought, how could she rest in peace with all my drama.

(2) The Shuttle – In this dream I was at College ABC and had to go to another campus. Even though it was ABC its location was now XYZ (downtown). I then had to board a shuttle of sorts (a shuttle that travels via rail above ground) to go to the campus; I remember looking down on the ground as we traveled high above the ground; the ride was quiet and smooth. There were many trees, the view was peaceful and beautiful. This dream was very short but it confused me because I never think of College ABC or XYZ, my thoughts are on GHI College; the college my son was planning on attending. Also none of these schools use this type of transportation to go from campus to campus. Lastly, I have never seen this type of transportation in real life. In fact I don’t even know if its called a shuttle.

(3) The Wedding – This dream occurred more than once with minor variations. I was attending the wedding of my best friend; I was the videographer. At some point she tells me that she does not really want to marry her fiancé and the wedding is canceled. In another variation the wedding occurs but I arrive at the last minute due to complications.

(4) Two homes – At least seven times I had this dream with minor variations.
I was living in a house and somehow I ended up being tied to two leases. In all versions I was confused as to how I was going to sort out the mess; how can I live in two places at once? I remember panicking about the rent that was due on the new home because I had no money. I remember trying to figure out how to move all my furniture into the new place; some things had to be left behind in trunks and in storage. In all versions I went to back to the storage or second home and tried to pack some things in my car; in all versions I had to leave many things behind; it was very upsetting to me. On all occasions I awoke very stressed as if it were really happening. I would think about it all day; why am I having this dream? Why over and over again!

Now once these dreams occurred they began to be realized and I continued dreaming; I will only tell you of one although it turned out those were premonitions as well.

Shark Attack – All I remember is this, I was being attacked by sharks; They were trying to break into my room; these sharks didn’t swim, they stood upright like men. The dream ended as I was awoken by my own screams and Elaine knocking on my bedroom door; she could hear me screaming from her room.

End of part 1; to be continued… – Click HERE to read Part 2

Written by Antoinette Forsythe Copyright © All Rights Reserved, Image Credit:  premonition by Michele Diodati Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic License.

This is a true story. Names have been changed to protect identities.

Happiest When Wet
…I didn’t have time to debate the issue; I had to rush home for prayer-meeting with Maggie and Justin, the first of hopefully many to come. After the meeting Justin went back to his friend’s house. I told Maggie I’d walk her home because I really wanted to keep up with my daily walks, and I needed to buy some fruits.

Half way there I began to sweat and trust me, it really was not attractive. However, there was no need for worry, just in the distance there was a yard with a sprinkler. I ran over and stood under the sprinkler with my face looking up into the clouds; I closed my eyes, opened my mouth, and drank and drank and drank. You would think I had just journeyed through the desert on bare foot during the worst heat wave; I thanked God for water, the hose, easy access to the lawn, and the fact that there were no chained hungry rabid dogs lurking about.

I let the water run over my face and hands and it felt so darn good. However, unbeknownst to me, it also wet the entire right side of my track pants and the crotch of my pants; great, we still had several blocks more to go, the sun had now begun to set so it wouldn’t dry in the next five minutes, and, I had to walk back home during rush hour along the main streets. We had a good laugh about it all, after all what else could I do but laugh at myself; I knew I hadn’t wet my pants and that’s all that mattered; so what if I looked like the poster child for Depend (Incontinence Undergarment Company).

We finally got to the store and in just a few minutes I purchased a variety of fruits. Maggie took nearly fifteen to look at every fruit, in every isle; touching, smelling, weighing and debating. In the end, she bought one lousy banana; hell, I could have given her one of mine! She decked with banana in hand and I gracefully clad in my wet pants and fruits galore; we decided to hang out for a bit. We stood on the corner of an intersection; it was part of a long strip laden with high end stores and Restaurants. It was a beautiful summer day so there was plenty of activity. I was enjoying all the excitement it had to offer; I did not know what it really had in store for us.

Nuts and Bolts
As we checked out the scenery a car pulled up a few feet away and parked; Maggie didn’t notice but I, I miss nothing. While Maggie was busy chatting away I was busy checking out the character stepping out the car. As he stepped out I gasped, “nuts and bolts!” Maggie immediately turned in my direction to see what all the commotion was about. Her body shook with disgust as if I said “let’s eat worms.” She mumbled under her breath as soon as he passed us, “Why’d you have to show me that?” “I didn’t show you,” I explained, “I couldn’t help but notice.”

The tall white man took his time in crossing the street in his skin tight (I can’t breathe) red not black bicycle shorts. He went into the pharmacy and all eyes were on him; we weren’t the only ones that took notice. A few minutes later he exited the pharmacy; a few minutes too soon as far as Maggie was concerned; for this time, she had front row seating to his little showing. Her body literally convulsed, “Oh, Dear, Lord,” she said at a snails pace. This time he crossed the street at a much slower pace; if that was even possible.

My eyes were fixated on his groin; I’m sure he knew all eyes were on him becasue suddenly for no apparent reason, he turned to the side and stood still for what seemed like an hour. The view was disturbing and we were all traumatized. He turned in our direction and headed straight for us. My eyes were still fixated on his groin as I was still in shock. I shook my head in disbelief and said, “I’m sure that’s illegal. Don’t you think? I mean really, it has got to be!” As he climbed back into his car and left, Maggie and I stared dumbfounded at each other. I finally exhaled and said, “Yep, there you have it, dick and balls, upfront and center for all the world to see; nuts, and bolts. Girl, I’m bringing Hammer Pants back!”

With those words I looked down and realized my pant crotch was still slightly wet; not really noticeable, but if you looked hard enough, you could see it. Then it hit me, what if he noticed? What if he thought he made them wet? I realized that his ‘thing’ had somehow put a spell on me; I was still a bit dazed. I had to get back to reality.

Be Cool
Maggie began chatting again. We chatted about our adventures on opposite sides of the globe; she had gone to England for two years and although she had been back about two years, we never had a chance to talk about it in depth; we had a lot to catch up on. By the time we finished swapping tales my pant had dried and my fruit bag was starting to feel heavy on my shoulders. I slowly placed my bag on the pavement between my feet and then with a great big sigh of relief, I began to stretch out my shoulders.

As I was coming out my stretches, I noticed a car parking right across from us; the driver was quite handsome and he really caught my eye; after the last driver, we were long overdue for some real eye candy. I flirtatiously shouted over to him, “Hey handsome. How are you doing today?” Maggie chuckled hysterically; she couldn’t believe that I could be so bold. He smiled back; a smile so wide I’m pretty sure I saw his tonsils. He blushed and quickly vanished into the corner store. “I can not believe you said that, girl you are too bold. I think you gave the poor man a heart attack,” she said as she continued to laugh. “Girl he was a fine looking man, shy as hell, but fine! The worst thing he could do is curse me and I would live after that.” I said smiling back at her.

Within a few minutes he came out of the store and got into his car. He then bent down as if he had dropped something. He then came back out with what looked like a pencil, walked over to the trunk and placed the small item into the trunk. Maggie quickly whispered, “Ooh girl, he just did that so you could get a second look”. He smiled at me and walked back without saying a word; we chuckled like two teenage girls. He got back into the driver’s seat and reached down on the floor again, this time he pulled out a large container of bottled water. As he began to sip its contents, he assumed the ‘gangsta lean’ position and turned up his stereo; which of course was playing rap music. “Can I get a drink?” I asked. My partner not associated with this crime quickly pointed out, “Kayla, he can’t hear you, his music is too loud.” “I know that. I would die if he answered,” I said rather shyly; revealing the fact that I’m really not ‘that’ bold. “I wonder how he’ll exit.” I whispered in her ear.

As soon as the words left my mouth he smiled at me and revved his engine. I smiled back at him and then Maggie and I faced the other direction. Although our backs were turned, his exist was loud and clear; it sounded as though he peeled off at lightening speed; screeeeeeech, urrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, BOOOOOOM! There was a loud crash! My mouth dropped open and my body immediately fell to the pavement in deep despair; I sat on the curb with face cupped in my hands and almost wept; I felt sick inside. “No, no, no, no, no! This is all my fault! Oh no, no, no, no!” I cried out. “I shouldn’t have flirted, I shouldn’t; he was trying to impress me! Oh no! This is terrible!” I couldn’t stop repeating myself. I couldn’t get up. I couldn’t and didn’t dare look. I could hear the crowds gathering all around me but it was all so surreal; I was in a dream-like state of mind and I could hear the chattering and all the questions being uttered; I, had all the answers.

“Kayla, it can’t be his car!” Maggie screamed at me in confusion. “Anyway, how is it your fault? We’ve had this talk. Stop talking responsibility for other people’s stupidity!” She said scolding me in her mother-daughter tone. “It ‘is’ my fault and it ‘is’ his car; I can feel it!” I insisted. Maggie looked over at the crash site and began to laugh hysterically, “Kayla, it’s not, his, car! He’s long gone; it’s a white car!” she shouted. I shouted back in agony, “His car ‘is’ white!”

Her laughter came to a sudden halt. She pulled me up and over towards the fence; I didn’t want to look but I knew I had to. Like two peeping Toms we peeped over. We immediately saw the white car door opening from the driver’s side. The man stepped out his car and shook his head in disbelief, he then turned and looked at us; it was him! There was no smile; he was expressionless. As he turned back to his car a tall white man came out of a restaurant; it was his car that was hit; they both inspected their vehicles without a word to each other.

The more I thought about it, the more it made no sense; how, why, for what? Certainly not for me! When I first saw him he was parked at the stop light; his car was first in line the corner. When he peeled off, it means he didn’t go straight, he made an immediate left turn; a turn unto a narrow road that has cars parked on both sides; you have to proceed slowly as not to hit any of the parked cars. Maybe he didn’t know that, but still. More shocked than Maggie, both drivers and I, were the restaurateurs; his car slammed into a parked car, the parked car was then pushed up and unto the sidewalk crashing into many table; at that table, there were restaurateurs.

Although I was deep in thought, I could hear Maggie cackling away in the background; she somehow still thought it was funny; I didn’t hear the joke, I didn’t get the punch line. “What an idiot, what a total idiot!” she said. “This could’ve been a really nice moment for you both, all he had to do was smile back and drive off like a normal human being; but nooooo! Kayla, his decision to do what he did had nothing to do with you; it was his choice and his choice alone. Think about it.” she said still chuckling. I thought about and then responded in agreement, “Yeah, you’re right, not even a NASCAR driver would’ve begun a race at 1000 miles an hour; his first move was an immediate right angle turn. I mean really, who would do such a thing?” “You see Kayla, that’s why I’m laughing.” She said. “It’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen a man do.”

I continued looking over the fence analyzing the crowd that had gathered and said to her, “Maggie, this poor man picked the whitest block and the whitest restaurant to crash into. Not only that but it’s filled with the drunkest white people that will serve as witnesses when the police arrive. Maggie, this Negro is a dead man walking! I can’t even think of what to say or do to help him out.”

We decide it was time to leave; we had seen enough action to last a lifetime. As we walked down the street, we slyly looked to the left, I was silently hoping and praying he wouldn’t look back, but he did, and for the second time that day, time stood still; his eyes locked on mine; still without expression. I said nothing and I didn’t smile. I didn’t go over and offer to help. I didn’t wave. No matter what the reality was, I felt guilty; I honestly felt helpless and was deeply numbed by it all. As I walked home, I vowed never again to cool off under a sprinkler, never again to blame myself for the actions of another and, never again to flirt; but I know all too well, “Never say never.”

Written by Antoinette Forsythe Copyright © All Rights Reserved, Image Credit: the answer to the question: Why are bike shorts always black? by iwishicoulddescribeitto youbetter Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic, No Need 4 Speed by amandabhslater Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic, sprinkler fun by StormyDog Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License.