What Were My Nightmares REALLY Trying To Tell Me?

Two recurring childhood nightmares–one a family car crash, the other a fatal plunge off an Arizona cliff–prepared me for life's inevitable losses and the enduring power of love.

Mar 30, 2025

The strangest nightmare ever

This one was… different.

Super weird, but the last time I had this dream was my senior year of high school.

It always started the same: Me, Mom, Dad, my sister, and my brother, all squished in our old minivan, that classic Cracker Barrel smell still hanging in the air after dinner (they used to have great mac and cheese–emphasis on the used to.)

We're driving home, everything's normal, and then BAM!

We're taking a hard turn into a ditch.

Not much detail in the crash itself, but I remember I would crawl out of the wreckage, looking around for my family.

When I was looking around I would see Mayor, my dog who'd passed away, running around with Bingley and BB, my dogs who at the time were still alive.

They're all happy, tails wagging, like nothing's wrong.

It was this mix of losing everything and being reunited that always messed with me.

As soon as I would get up to them I would wake up.

My adult perspective

Now that I'm older, it makes a bit more sense.

The crash? Probably wasn't about an actual accident, but more about my fear of losing my family, you know?

That feeling that things could fall apart at any moment. And Mayor being there? That was definitely about loss and grief.

But those other dogs being there too, happy as could be? That gave me hope, I guess. Like, even if things get bad, you can still bounce back.

Looking back, it wasn't some freaky prediction, but maybe a way of getting ready for the tough stuff.

The Arizona cliff & why it matters

The recurring nightmare

This dream, my goodness… it haunted me. It was always my uncle's red truck, bouncing down this dusty road in Arizona, on the way to see my grandparents.

I remember that desert landscape so clearly, especially compared to the Cracker Barrel dream.

But it always ended the same: driving straight off a cliff.

Thats it. Quick & painless– but the most terrifying way to wake up.

Unresolved grief & prophetic longing

My grandparents passed away a few years ago, and I never actually made it out to Arizona to see them.

I've felt guilty about that for years even before they passed as they got older and I never went to visit.

I think this dream was my brain's way of dealing with that missed chance, and it happened more often and later into my life, until I was around 20.

The truck was the trip I never took, the cliff was like the finality of death.

I think my subconscious was telling me I needed to prepare to deal with this regret, that I was was longing for a connection that I lost.

Looking back, I see this dream as my brain's way of expressing my grief.

It wasn't just about what would happen, but what had happened, and how I felt about it.

In a weird way, it started to prepare me for the losses that were coming, and the importance of appreciating the people you have while you have them.

Dreams prepared me for my journey.

So, yeah, looking back, it's easy to see these dreams as prophetic, not in some literal way, but as metaphors that got me ready for life.

They weren't predicting anything specific, but they were prepping me for some basic human stuff: loss, grief, how life can be fragile, and how family and love can help you get through.

They were like rehearsals for life's challenges.

Now, they're just a reminder that we can get through anything, and that we're always learning.

They weren't just dreams; they were lessons I learned before I even knew I needed them.

Have your dreams taught you any important life lessons?
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