This year, Oliver has been supporting Julian in clay modelling and firing, making rice paper rolls and sandwiches, excursions to watch women’s football games, and volunteering at the Brunswick Tool Library. He has been accepting of suggestions I have made to keep Julian motivated or on track. I felt that our relationship is progressing but I hadn’t realised how far - until he told us how we had popped into his dreaming.
Oliver dreamed that he and Julian were out and about and found a beautiful chair in an op shop.
Julian was very keen to have it, but agreed it was a good idea to Facetime me about it. In real life, I might have endorsed the purchase, even though we are moving house soon and supposed to be de-cluttering. Not so, in the dream, where, on Facetime, I said that Julian didn’t need the op shop chair because we had a fabulous chair for him on order. After I hung up, Julian insisted that he wanted to buy the beautiful op-shop chair. Oliver asked the price and guess what? It was only six dollars. Sold! Or rather: Purchased!
The dream evoked qualities of great disability support. There was shared enjoyment between Julian and his support worker in the discovery and celebration of an object for sale. Support was given to Julian to check in on his chief Carer’s opinion on buying it. I (the Carer) gave reasons for negating the idea. The worker supported Julian to make a choice of his own that was not dictated by his Carer and was within his means.
I can’t argue with that.
Happily, in real life I don’t have two extra beautiful chairs to contend with.