I had an extremely vivid dream last night.

It was a dream about Carol and my wedding, though not our real one. Instead of the temple, we were in a park which was against a lake. It’s not a park that I’ve ever been to, but felt like a combination of Caldwell Park in Redding, Laurelhurst Park in Portland, and the park near my parents’ house in Battle Ground. It was springtime and everything was vividly colored: green grass and trees, blue sky and water, and flowers of every color. The trees (mostly deciduous, but with many evergreens) were extremely tall and offered a great mixture of shade and streaming sunlight.

Those who attended our wedding included my grandparents (who passed away years before our real wedding), old friends from California (including Mat, Darcey, Cayle, and Steph), and Carol’s entire extended family (including cousins, aunts, and uncles). All through the park, there were people playing and laughing. There were a lot of children enjoying the various swings, slides, and spinners.

Both Carol and I were very young. At first we looked like teenagers (for some reason, I remembering thinking we looked 14). I understood, though, that were actually in our early 20’s (still younger than when I was actually married). Our kids were actually a few years older than they are now.

Our kids? The scene suddenly changed. Instead of enjoying our wedding, we were telling the kids how wonderful our wedding was. It was the same spring day in the same park with the same people playing on the same swings, but there was a new feature: a long and winding path. The path was made mostly of large brass (or shiny copper?) plates. Stamped on each plate was a short description of the various details from our wedding day. Who attended, what we did, where we stood, what was said. Along the path there were small spouting evergreen trees. I remember there was a light breeze.

I noticed for the first time a hill standing on the side of the park opposite the lake. A house stood at the top of the hill which I recognized as ours, but we didn’t go up to it. Carol and I walked hand in hand, smiling, and the kids ran circles around us. Every few minutes we would stop, read a brass plate, and fill in the details for the kids. I was looking into Carol’s eyes as I was talking.

I woke up smiling.

P.S. I did a quick search for an appropriate picture by typing “laurelhurst park” into google. The postcard above was the second image and it caught me completely off guard. It looks almost exactly like my dream. And I mean, so close it’s eerie. I’ll have to find that place.