Bruno meets Dominic and I meet them all

Bruno Mars and his band

Dominic Lucero in Stand by Me

Where do I even begin on this dream?

I'm not exactly sure where it started. The first thing I remember is being in either a house or a business of some kind. The front looked like a store and the back looked like a house. So many a small store with living quarters upstairs or at the back?

I was with a group of people that turned out to be Bruno Mars' band members. This wasn't clear until I heard someone at the front door and went to check. It was Eric, Bruno's brother and drummer, and his little boy. It was absolutely them and directly from pictures and video I've seen of both of them. They entered the building and I said, "Is this Liam?"  Eric smiled proudly and coaxed his little boy to say hello. Liam had no trouble greeting me and I may have talked to him for a minute. You know, typical things you ask a little kid like, "How old are you..." etc. Such a sweet and adorable little kid. When he left, I turned to one of the band guys who was still in the room and said, "Such a cute kid."

I ended up retiring to my quarters and it is obvious to me at this point that I'm touring with the band. In whatever capacity, I was hired on for some reason. Not once in the dream was I working, but I knew I was a member of the crew.

At this point, I run into Dominic who is also touring, but a member of the band...somehow. I think my Bruno and Michael Jackson references got mixed up. Somehow this all made sense which it often does in dreams.

I guess I was brand new to the band and had not quite been given my own quarters yet. The living quarters appeared to be quite tight and small. I spent some time in what appeared to be Dominic's room where I guess I thought I'd be sharing with him. We talked for a bit and I was enjoying his company. Then he left and I figured out that he had given up his room for me. He was now bunking with another member of the band.

I creep out of my room which was the last room at the right end of the hall. Dominic had taken another room which was next door, but kitty-corner to the room I was staying in. So if I was close enough to the doorway of my room, I could hear them talking.

I have no idea what they were talking about, but Dominic and his new roommate were chatting. I became intensely interested in what they were saying, so I stood outside the door ease-dropping.  Apparently his roommate could see me and told me it was okay if I came in. I was embarrassed to be caught, but I did enter.

Immediately Dominic and I pick up our conversation. One of the weirdest parts of this dream? Dominic was a teenager and in high school. I was the same age as him. In reality, we were a decade apart in age. But in the dream we were the same age or only a couple of years difference. We started talking about school and found we had so much in common.

He and his roommate shared a bunk bed and he had the top bunk. I stood there as he sat up in bed and chatted. Of course, we were completely ignoring his roommate by this time.

I don't know where it ended, but that's the last thing I remember.

Okay, so what I find strangest about this dream is that I have seen only one photo of Dominic as a teenager. And he didn't necessarily look like that in this dream. I read something once about dreams and the people in our dreams are from people we've seen. So, could it be that my subconscious melded various images of him together to create teenage Dominic?

I find the Bruno connection less odd as I just watched him perform last night. The randomness of it all is odd. Why did I dream about Liam? Why Eric? And why only Bruno's band members. I think Bruno made an appearance somewhere, but that part isn't as clear as the rest.

Dang nap dreams.

Before the curtain closes

Lately I've been revisiting my teenage years and have gotten back into Newsies. As a teenager, I loved this movie! I followed the actors for probably 10 years into amazing careers. I followed four of the guys onto the Nickelodeon show, Roundhouse which I also came to love.

One of the most tragic of stories is that of one of the most talented actors from Newsies. Dominic Lucero. Amazingly talented guy and, as I've read and heard, an all around amazing guy. In 1993, he was diagnosed with lymphomic cancer. He passed away July 1, 1994 barely 2 months before his 27th birthday.

The amazing thing to me is that 18 years after his death, his fans are still out there keeping his memory alive. It amazes me constantly the number of lives one person touches. The memorial pages, blogs, tumblrs, youtube memorials and all else on the internet amazes me. They all make me cry, but that's another story.

I've been dreaming about Dominic lately. Only one really made sense. I know he has been on my mind lately, but the volume of the dreams is getting weird.

The most recent dream involved the 3rd season of Roundhouse. The morning I had this dream I was watching Roundhouse in episode order. (I bought the series off ioffer.com.) I was looking for the final 3 episodes he appeared in during season 3. I decided to take a nap and I had this dream.

I was watching the show which happened to be season 3 and I think I was in the audience. I don't remember specifics really. I just saw a lot of dancing and singing. It was really the set and all that went with it.

Somehow I got to what looked like a movie theater and was standing in the lobby. It turned out this was where the show was filmed. (Yeah, not really, but it was in my dream.) It was flipping back and forth to me going to the movies and me seeing Roundhouse. That part was weird. But suddenly, I was there for Roundhouse and I was standing in the lobby. Dominic was heading off to the studeo and looked like he did in season 1. He looked happy and healthy. He was wearing the outfit he wore during the Conflict episode in season 1. He walked by me and I said, "Hey, Dominic. It's good to have you back.  He turned, smiled and said, "Thanks." Then he continued on.

That was it. If there was more, I don't remember it.

The other dreams were sort of fragments.

The first one I had was sort of like Kevin's behind the scenes of Newsies. He was just walking around. Except here it looked like he was rehearsing for something.

The other dream I don't really remember, but I know he was in it. I think it was more of the first dream. He was there, but there wasn't a purpose to the dream. He was just there somewhere.

I finally did see the final 3 episodes he appeared in and about cried watching his final episode. The first episode he was in during season 3 was with him sitting in the audience. Ivan ran out into the audience during the credits and pointed him out. He looked so different. Then when he was in the actual show, I realized he really did look different. A result of his treatment maybe? His voice sounded strained. The way he walked even looked as if he struggled to make it across the stage. I was about in tears by the credits.

I want to know the story behind this so badly. Why did he come back when he was so sick? I love that he did, but why?

I wish I hadn't become a full-fledged Dominic fan after he was gone. I liked him and missed him in the day, but I wish I'd come to love him like others have for the last 20+ years before now.

RIP Dominic. We still love and miss you.