When Jimmy remembered his first dream, I knew that we had passed a major hurdle. The next step would be to get him to remember them clearly and to realize that his father was there to help him. This was indeed true as his father and I were in complete agreement and I was simply the messenger. The fact that Jimmy had always had great respect for his father’s opinion would I knew, make my job a lot easier. Thoughts of his father had also kept Jimmy in a better mood and although he might stop by the pub after work, for a drink with his mates, he neither got drunk nor picked a fight with Sadie, who now seemed more confused than ever.

As I waited for Jimmy to fall asleep I decided to try implanting some positive thoughts in his mind. He realized that Sadie wasn’t happy and at first had blamed himself, as he had never considered himself a ladies man and felt that she would be happy with someone else – now he wasn’t so sure. He had bought her some new clothes which she immediately hung in the closet and hadn’t looked at them since. This was around the time that he first started drinking. It had never entered his thoughts that Sadie’s parents had a long time ago purchased clothes for their burial, and they had hung in their closet for as long as Sadie could remember.

While Jimmy was sleeping I began showing him scenes from his mom and dad’s life. There were scenes of them laughing together, singing together and scenes of them getting dressed in their best finery and going to a friend’s house or to the pub together. I knew that this was the kind of marriage that Jimmy had hoped for but now felt he would never have. It was my job to convince him differently. In the dream state, Jimmy once again talked to his father, only this time it was him telling of the problems with his marriage, of getting drunk and beating Sadie, even of ignoring his little girl. He cried as he confessed all of this to his father, so real was the experience that he awoke to find his pillow wet from his tears. Before awaking his father had hugged him and said he understood. Jimmy awoke with the feeling that he was not to blame for what was happening in his marriage, yet somehow knowing that it wasn’t Sadie’s fault either. Feeling better than he had in weeks he shocked Sadie with a passionate kiss and a promise of more later. As her daddy kissed her gently on the forehead before leaving for work, Susie too knew that something had changed.