It began when I noticed a plaque under a bench at Esther Short Park.
And it ended — or will end — with my having lunch with a reader.
In between, there were many shared dreams, some poignant, some profound, some political.
Two weeks ago, I wrote a column asking readers to share with me their dreams. It was prompted after reading a plaque placed under a bench at Esther Short Park.
The plaque had this message for all of us: “Take Time To Dream.”
The beautiful park is one of my favorite places to walk because it’s only a few blocks away from The Columbian building.
The plaque was placed there by Vivian Jarosek in honor of her late husband, Donald. I would learn later that the phrase was placed on the plaque because Donald loved to travel and always looked forward to his next adventure.
The timing of the column was fortuitous. Donald’s birthday was a couple of days after my column appeared, and the family would often go to the park bench to honor him.
Every now and then, I like to hold a contest, with the winner getting lunch with me. It’s a way for readers to get to know me, but — more important — it’s a way for me to get to know readers.
This particular lunch contest would be based on what readers are taking time to dream about. As noted in the initial dream column I wrote, too many of us are wrapped up in the moment. We’ve forgotten to take time to dream.
So I asked you for your dreams.
I received dozens of entries, so thank you so much for that. And I’ll share a few of those here and — if you keep reading to the end — will announce the winner.
I should note that — yes — a few folks had the dream that I quit writing about county Councilors David Madore and Tom Mielke. But as I’ve noted previously, I often write about the M&M boys because they often do stupid stuff.
So maybe you should consider dreaming that the M&M boys quit doing stupid stuff.
OK, here are some of the runners-up:
David Paola: “I dream of developing communication skills in order to investigate new meanings, to ask challenging questions in order to provide insight, to gather new ideas in order to be more pragmatic … and to be constructive rather than destructive with my decisions.”
Mark Monroe: “My dream is for Lou Brancaccio to expand his horizon and write about something else besides the M&M boys.”
Daniel Ogden: “Live honorable goals.
“I read your column regularly and congratulate you for your excellent exposé of the monkey business that has been going on (by the county council.) Your work has been a great public service.”
Larry Patella: “I dream that in the not too distant future the freedoms I have enjoyed as a child and young adult will be returned to my children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.”
Elise Dalke Petosa: “I dream of a world that protects our children. Where children are seen as blessings. Where every child is loved.”
Bruce Stanton: “I dream of a future in which the residents of Clark County are far more supportive of education.”
Sandra Edmonson: “To travel to other parts of the world. One of the wonderful consequences of traveling is the discovery that people are people whereever you go and there is much we can learn and enjoy when we take the time to meet them and explore their history and cultures.”
Thanks so much to everyone who took the time to enter the contest. And thanks to everyone who simply took the time to dream.
