Dream of Larry Hobbs

On June 8th of 2019, my friend since my sophomore year at Duncan U. Fletcher High School Larry Lynn Hobbs lost his battle with cancer. This was unknown to my person due to certain circumstances; a self imposed exile from social media that was necessary. However on the morning of June 10th I dreamt of Larry as if he wanted me to know he would always be watching over me. Larry was a force to be reckoned with.
His Chinese zodiac sign was The Dragon; he being born in 1964. I being born in 1968 had the zodiacal assignment of The Monkey. Those dinner mats they put on the dining tables at those Chinese restaurants are informant and both Larry and I matched our respective signs. Myself, introverted but curious. I was suspicious and great listener who could hear three different conversations at once and remembered things with great detail...an aspect of my then undiagnosed Asperger's condition which explained my personality; my writings, guitar playing and art projects are handled meticulously but I am a slob and a hoarder of books, music related items including guitars. Larry was out going, extroverted and had charisma and was strong as hell. Though I was know for my strength as well however I was very endomorphic with severe gynocamastia were as Larry was mesomorphic; very athletic and a excellent surfer and swimmer.
The first time I met Larry he had that smile that disarmed me. I being a tenth grader I knew I was a neophyte; a target for the typical harassment laden on lower class mates by the seniors who by the 10th of June of the next year would be moving on. I was cautious and had a reputation of flying off the handle if provoked. And the upperclassmen had given me the nickname "Solomon Grundy" which I hated then as I do now. Add the fact I had pendulous breasts, glasses and a short afro with an "Eddie Munster" widow's peak...I looked like a disaster. Androgny that was not pretty. Strangers often called me a "lesbian" because...I looked like a East German female field eventer only two shades darker.
Larry...he made me laugh. He and Chris Wooten, Emmanuel Sarnelli and Steven Grimes​​ became mentors to me; an outcast who wanted to fit in but knew his station. It made school better.
As we grew older both Larry's and my health declined. I was basically an addict; powerlifting, sex and drugs...steroids to build muscle...opiates including heroin to subjugated the pain that I put myself through. My maschocistic tendencies finally caught with me at a squat rack with 605lbs on my shoulders on December of 2007 when my body said "...no more, Kelsie..." and failed the lift. Larry however would suffer a more serious blow. Hobbs The Hammer as we called him would be diagnosed with cancer. Larry the "ebony Adonis" who didn't need drugs to be perfect had cancer. My pain was deserved but his ailment to me seemed unwarranted. Why Larry?
Larry had support and fought his condition with the vigor that he showed in life. He fought it tooth and nail. "#HOBBSSTRONG" became his rallying cry and the support of old classmates and the community; people who lived or once lived in the barrier island between the San Pablo River and the Atlantic Ocean...of all color, creeds, faith and political beliefs loved Larry. His smile never wavered.
The last time I saw Larry was at the Baptist Medical Center Beaches. I was sitting in the lobby after an appointment with my pain management doctor when a long time classmate Chris Younger tapped my shoulder. He was visiting Larry. Upon hearing he was upstairs I got myself out of the chair and went up to see him. Hammer had the winning smile that is permanently imbedded for ever in my memory. We talked...I wish for longer but I did hope to see him again.
Before I go into my dream I will let you the reader of this essay know that I come from a extended family who are known to be lucid dreamers. Some of the dreams that my family members including my great great grandmother Sarah Brahaim who was an obeah and fortuneteller were prophetic. Dreams are not just whismical fancies of our subconcius; they can tell you many things. Please don't not "foo foo" a dream...it may help you.
On the morning of June 10, 2019, I dreamt I was driving my blue silver Ford Crown Victoria down Interstate 95 to get to one of the many call centers that I worked at before my disability when the car broke down and I pulled over on to the shoulder of the southbound lanes. In this dream the sky looked overcast and the trees lining I 95 were shedding autumn leaves. I decided to leave my distressed vehicle, grabbing my briefcase and my trusty black "Shaft" leather jacket, locked my doors, closed the hood of my "Queen Victoria" and made headway to the exit that would take me to work. I walked pass a chained link fence that separated the shoulder of the interstate and a hammock of trees; my mind on getting to work and to call my brother in law to see if he could repair my car when another vehicle passed me on left and pulled over. "Oh great!!" I thought. A fellow employee was stopping to pick me up. However, the lady who got out of the vehicle was not familiar to me. And she was not trying to pick me up.
She immediately pointed to the fence I had just walked by and exclaimed "LOOK...BEHIND YOU!! DO YOU SEE HIM?!?" What...see who I thought and turned around to see just what this stranger was talking about and what I saw in this dream left me awestruck. A winged man...an angel was clinging to the fence. This seraphim was in battered breastplate and had greaves on; his armor was bloodied and dented from blows dealt with tremendous violence. He had an emptied scabbard; the sword it must have carried misplaced..perhaps lost in a heavenly battle. His great wings were too bloodied with feathers torn from them; some were on the ground...others were floating about the air. The angel's head was bowed but I could tell he was a black man or appeared to be. As me and the lady offered aid to this supernatural being I saw his face.
He was Larry Lynn Hobbs. This angel appeared to be Larry. He even smiled like him even though he seemed to be in a considerable amount of pain. It was him...I didn't know Larry had left our reality.
I started to notice that the strange lady and I were not the only ones who saw the angel. Traffic stopped in both directions and people were exiting their cars, vans, trucks...even semis to get a glimpse of this battered winged man. Amongst the growing throng was three huge rednecks who in his life Larry would often battle. As they approached the three of us, one had a chrome plated Colt .45 Automatic pistol and he chambered a round into it. Immediately the lady and I put ourselves in harm's way. We began to shout at the three as onlookers gawked. I proclaimed "NO...YOU ARE NOT GOING TO DO THIS!!!" but the strange lady shouted over the horns and murmurs heard "In the name of God; do no harm to him!!!"
At that moment a blinding light emulated from where the Hobbs Angel was. This light was kinetic; a force of immense power. The aggressive menacing trio were blasted backwards, heads over heels. The growing crowd of onlookers prostates themselves on hands and knees. Only the lady and I were left standing. We thus turned around.
The being who resembled Larry Lynn Hobbs now stood tall and strong. His once battered bloodied armour now gleamed bright and magnificent in silver. His mighty sword once again in its scabbard. The mighty wings now pure white and damaged no more. This Hammer Angel™ stood proud and he still had that disarming smile. Hobbs extended both hands to myself and the strange lady. She took his right hand immediately; I was hesitant. Because I am an atheist. This dream was not normal for me. Now my mother, grandmother and great grandmother dreamt of God but I have been doubtful since age fourteen after studying Deuteronomy 23:3 in the Bible and it's version in the Torah...23.2. I wasn't going to take the Hobbs' hand...my friend in life hand. The strange lady saw that I was tentative and she said to urged me to accept Hoobs the Angel's hand. "Take it, please...it will be okay."
I did. I am glad I did.
Immediately the Hammer Angel took us both aloft. We soared away from the interstate above Jacksonville proper, then Florida, away from my home country...The United States of America. High above the Western Hemisphere and could see the continents of Africa and Europhe and we watch as Asia and the Pacific came into view. We were above the world; it was green...blue...brown...beige...white. We saw clouds forming and reforming into fronts and tempestuous storms. We beholded the wonder of the world we call Earth. All the while we rode this devine vortex still clutching Hobbs hands. The world look like a giant azure pearl; round and pretty. The sky was bright blue and space above was dark but punctuated with points of twinkling lights that brightened the heavens. While this was happening...the most ethereal chorale sound that could only come from the celestial winds that seemed to hold us aloft. Metatronic voices herald the present of the ultimate Entity. This undeniable Entity has a thousand faces, a thousand altars...a thousand names that mean the same. As we...the lady and I took all of this in she spoke; "This is wonderful!!!" Yes, it was. This sensation...the sensation of floating in the stratosphere I imagine could only be achieved by dropping from a plane with a parachute strapped to yourself which is something I will never do. So this dream will have to do for the feeling of "free falling". And yes; it was wonderful.
And just like that we were in the middle of large clearing with soft green grass and scented clover; both prostates and unscathed as if we were laid there by caring hands. This huge meadow was surrounded by great trees. As the lady and I stood up we saw Larry walking away towards the nearest trees. We didn't follow...it wasn't necessary. Thus I woke up...the dream was finished.
I would learn of Larry Lynn Hobbs' passing from a news broadcast. Many people on surfboards off the shore celebrating his going to the astral plane. It hurt me to learn he was gone but he did let me know he was going to watch over me. My guardian angel is The Hammer Angel know to this reality as Larry Lynn Hobbs and no one will tell me different. So no goodbye, Larry...I will see you in my dreams and have your smile with me forever.