Have you ever had a scary dream about a loved one or friend soon after their death?

Yes. I actually had three dreams about my mom soon after her death. In the first one, I dreamt that I was at a large outdoor event with lots of people around and it was very hot. In the dream my mom’s body was nude and lying exposed for all to see. I could not see her face, mostly just her back, and I was horrified that she was in that position and her body not properly cared for after death and I was trying to figure out what to do with her body and why it was lying there exposed.

I think these dreams were a traumatic response to watching my mom die shortly before and that my mind was trying to process and come to grips with losing her. We often try to convince ourselves that our loved ones are “at peace” (which I pray they are) but really death is a traumatic and horrific event as we are ripped away from the people we love, sometimes with little to no closure or warning.

In my third terrifying dream I was at some kind of car dealership and was looking at cars when I suddenly saw my mom walk out of an office building. I was horrified because I knew she was deceased and couldn’t believe she was walking around. In my dream I couldn’t bear to look at her because I was afraid of how she would appear so I ran between cars, hunkered down so she wouldn’t see me, until I found a car with someone in the driver’s seat and begged them to let me in so that my mom wouldn’t find me. They finally let me in and I crouched down below the windows. Then I woke up.

When was the last time you had sex with someone much older than yourself?

In my next dream I dreamt that I was laying in bed and was just waking up when I realized that my mom’s deceased body was just below me, under my bed. I was frozen in fear and did not want to get out of bed because of this.