"When I Grow Up..."

I do not remember WHAT I dreamed about last night, but I woke up with the end conversation in my head. Apparently I was some six-year-old version of me, mapping out my career plans. I think I pin this one on working in the daycare.

"First I'm gonna be a musician, and then I'm gonna be a camp counselor like YOU, Janie. And then I wanna be a sailor 'cause my daddy's a sailor*. Then I'm gonna be a fireman. And then I wanna be a nurse like Aunt JJ**. And then I'm gonna be a forest ranger over at Yellowstone with the bears.*** And then I'm gonna be a teacher, 'cause teachers are old!"

"And when I die, I'm not gonna die. I'm gonna turn into a sea dragon and live in the ocean and every time they try to catch me I'll just dive way down deep in the deep parts an' they'll never find me, and I'll swim all over the world for the rest of forever because dragons live forever until Jesus comes back, and He'll say, "Dragon, I know who you are. It is time for you to come home." And because He knows my real name, He'll say it, even though everybody thinks I'm a dragon I really wasn't, and when I hear my real name I'll turn back into me and go with Him and then we'll go into Heaven together."

I'm assuming this was in answer to, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" but, I don't remember any of the other person's side of the conversation. The kids are just like that, though - they get really into a concept sometimes, very detailed, and then they haul the whole thing off on another tangent entirely, and if you just sit and wait and listen, it's fantastic where they'll end up. Nearly always unexpected, but fascinating.


*There was a point, I don't remember how old I was, but I remember my parents having an interest in sailing. I think this predated the ski boat, actually.

**I have no idea who Aunt JJ is. Evidently she's a nurse.

***I went to Yellowstone with some friends for a weekend when I was 21. Yeah, the park rangers were cool.