yeah, we change our minds.

In this dream, i was sort of the girl in the beginning, but then just observing for most of the rest of the dream..

I was a little black girl, and i was walking my little black terrier puppy, (it had a red collar and leash) to school from my house, which was sort of a trailer and was furnished in the fashion of a crotchety old woman. it was sunny out. suddenly, my dad was there (not my real dad, my dream dad, he's black too, and his clothes are old and shabby) and from this point on, i am separate from the little black girl, i'm watching now.

anyways, her dad is walking her to school with the dog, and on the way, in a place reminiscent of riverside park, there is a stand where a man is selling hot dogs and sno cones. the dad who momentarily is very old, and suddenly caucasian, says "watch this" to the daughter, and pretends to fall.. the man running the stand gives a free sno cone to the dad, who is once again black, and his regular age. he immediately gives it to his daughter, who laughs, and accepts it. 

something happens, but i can't quite remember what, but the little girl files a court case against her dad, and chooses to keep living with her mom, who is very pretty, (yet always stressed when i see her) with sleek black hair. they are in the park with her mom and step dad, and the daughter is telling her dad that it is for the best, and it what she has decided. (her dad is homeless) but he is devastated and anguished, he falls to his knees. its still sunny.

the girl and her step dad are in the park one day when they meet her real father, and they end up talking by the hedge gate to the park with her step dad, who she calls dad. it seems like the court may have ruled her dad unstable or maybe mentally incomeptent (thought he is most defintiely not), and so her step dad is sort of only there for supervision. nearing the end of the conversation, the daughter's real dad seems to accept the idea that his daughter living with her mom and step dad is a good thing. in fact, the two dads actually seem to bond and become friends, her real dad says to her step dad, that he had never realized that anyone could love their adoptive daughter that much and as much as he could.

after that, there are flashes of many days of both of her families spending time together at the park, listening to music and playing with the dog. the daughter gave her dad her terrier, which is now adult. 

everyone is happy, and everyone is much much older.

one day, her dad is in the park by himself with the dog, his hair and stubble is grey. he sees her skipping along the hill, but she is in a bubble, and there are others in front and behind her, running and leaping unnaturally high in their bubbles, all following an instructor. it is choir practice. her dad tries to stop her and talk to her, it seems important, but she brushes him off and catches up with her class, leaving him alone in the fading light.

suddenly, you can see him lying down on his side under some trees, his back to you, and the ground is covered in pine needles. he's dead. and all of a sudden, the girl, and her mom and step dad, though separately all realize at once that they had made a huge mistake, that they could have had a hand in his survival - given him a place to sleep at night, a full meal or two, not only valued his friendship and his presence and his pride, but also his health and his age and his well being. they only ever valued his presence in their lives, they took for granted how hard he fought to survive every day, they never gave a second thought to his own life. they all cry and shout, and then the dream is over. a song was playing the other time, but all i remember of the words is: ♪ oh, we change out minds. yeah we change our minds ♪