My mom was running a restaurant in my house. It was small and intimate, yet there were menus as if it was established and much larger. For some reason, the wait staff was really light that night, so I was helping out. I wasn’t very good at it. At one point, a lady asked if our pianist could play a song she brought with her. I explained that I couldn’t guarantee that he’d know the song, but I’d ask him. Then the lady sitting next to her, with clear surgical gloves on her hands, removed a cassette tape from a large plastic baggie, explaining that she didn’t allow her friend to touch just anything with all the germs that are around in the world… not just the restaurant.
Another couple had waited for awhile and expected their meals free, expensive meals. She specifically said, “Since we were avoided not once, but four times, I expect our meals to be free. The total comes to $79 and this is what we want.” I was shocked and knew that Mom would be upset.
I vaguely remember the beginning of the dream having to find a place for Jeff to stay. I don’t really remember that it was Jeff, but I do remember having to find a caregiver.
I also remember that Mom had to close the restaurant earlier in the evening due to the staff not being there. And by the end of the evening, she was ready to close again. I said, “Let’s do it.” We walked into the living room, which is where the tables were set up for the customers. The room was empty, so we turned off the outside lights and put up the closed sign. We were going to start cleaning up and doing dishes, but there was a knock on the window and we decided to lie low until we were sure no one would come back. Unfortunately, we had a couple of items that we thought folks might come back that evening to get, like the tape that the lady wanted the pianist to play.
I also remember that at one point, Mom had set up a bunch of Grandma’s old wooden furniture out in the carport for sale. It looked gorgeous. There was an assessor there, pricing the furniture and I mentioned that there was a piece loose on one of the desks. He made note of it and thanked me.
