October 30, 2009
To the Wonderful People in This Wonderful House,
I just want to take this opportunity to thank you for the best dream ever. Let me explain.
Today, Mama and Dada showed me photos of your house on the computer. Usually, when they have the laptop open, I bang the keyboard, pull the screen, drool on the power cord and make a big show of it. I’m just a one year old. That’s what we do.
But not today. I just stared and took the tour of your house, all 22 photos. And another tour. And again and again and again. And after the tenth time or so of looking at your house, I went to sleep quickly, without any fuss whatsoever, which is a first for me.
And as my eyes closed, my imagination took off. I dreamed of myself a little bit older, swimming in the pool with Dada. I imagined long days spent in the vegetable garden with Mama, getting dirt on my hands and knees and loving every minute of it. I dreamed of days full of playing with cars and footballs and maybe swinging from a tire. I imagined chasing a dog and salamanders. I saw myself being the best big brother imaginable. I dreamed about kissing a girl for the first time in secret under a shaded tree. I envisioned hanging with my friends, running to the store and back, or maybe just playing hide-and-seek between bushes and rocks and then riding my bike up a long hill just for a glass of cold water. And I never thought about the possibility of owning chickens and pigeons before but now I do, and there I was, in my coop. And then, I woke up, laughing and smiling. And I went back to sleep for more.
And that’s how it went for an entire two hours, dreaming about how the rest of my childhood would play out. Can you blame me? I loved your house. I loved everything about it. And I loved what was waiting for me.
Right now, we live with our uncle in San Francisco. And although, in our minds, that’s a great situation, our hearts are telling us we should be somewhere else. And we’re convinced that place is in San Rafael.
My Mama grew up in Novato. She played there. She had fun there. She went to school there. She got married there. She feels Novato made her who she is today.
I want to feel about Sun Valley as my Mama does about Novato.
Thank you for giving our hearts a visual to match what we’re feeling.
Now excuse me. I’m going back to sleep to dream about it a little more.
Sincerely,
Wyatt Tornello
