I had a dream

recently that my dad hit my mother. We were in some a house, I'm not sure if was supposed to be theirs, but I wasn't familiar with it. My mom and dad were arguing. I was in my room when things started to get heated. I finally decided that enough was enough and decided to try to tell them to chill out. I walked in just in time to see my dad give my mom a good wallop from his backhand. I was shocked. I had never seen my dad lay a hand on my mother before, either in a dream or in real life. I calmly told my dad that if I ever saw him do that again, the next thing he would be seeing is the ceiling of a hospital. I meant it too. I had never felt that kind of anger before for my father. When I woke up I had a strange feeling. I was still mad at my father even though I knew it didn't really happen. My parents have argued before, and yes it gets bitter sometimes, but I have never seen an act of violence from either of them. Seeing it in my dream affected me more than I thought, as I was still thinking about it hours later. I had to keep telling myself that it was not real. Then I started feeling very fortunate I have never had to witness that when I was growing up. As an adult, I'm pretty sure I could handle the collapse of my family. I feel like I would do the right thing with taking care of them. I feel I am a pretty stable, well-adjusted young adult. However if I had witnessed things like this frequently as a child, I wonder how this would have affected me. I hope it has never actually happened, and that it is not just one of those things that is shielded from your eyes as a kid. I never knew until years later that at one point we were pretty much broke before my dad got a job with Ford. I was blissfully unaware in my world where my parents always had things together and they knew exactly the right thing to do for my brother and I. I know this isn't true, but I am very fortunate for the stability and support they have shown me. I think about my students at school, and the very different world some of them come from. For some, it is a very real thing to have abusive parents. I can only imagine what it must feel like to come home and have to take care of brothers and sisters because mom is working until midnight, or worse, passed out from whatever substance she decided to escape with today. My dad did work a lot when I was young, and I did not see a lot of him, but I did see him, and I knew at the end of the day he would come home. As far as I knew he always did. I hope I have the wisdom to know how to mentor my students. Some are in pretty turbulent waters, and I am sometimes unsure of how to make my lighthouse shine to guide these kids. God grant me the wisdom.