Last night was one of those "humorous nights."
After learning earlier in the evening my parents, back in Iowa were traveling in bad weather to their annual tradition of the Buddy Holly Commemorative Celebration in Clear Lake (the place where Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper, and Richie Vallens lost their life in a plane crash back in 1959), my worry gene kicked in. Like a parent of a teenage child, I texted my parents and told them not to drive back home if the weather was bad and to just stay the night in a hotel. My Dad texted me back and said they'd drive carefully and they'd be fine. I responded, please call or text me when you get home, even if it is really late. Dad said okay and on with the night we went.
At our normal time we went to sleep only to have my internal alarm wake me up at 11:35 p.m. Immediately I reached for my phone. I looked and I didn't see a missed call or a text message so up out of bed I jumped, headed to the kitchen to call. I dialed and two rings in, Dad answered. After midnight their time he said, "Ang, we just got home. We are safe. I was just about to call." Typical teenage response I thought. "Glad to hear you made it carefully", I responded. We said goodnight and back to bed I went. Because for some strange reason I can't turn my mind off at night, I laid awake for at least 30 minutes before finally drifting back to sleep. Less than 20 minutes later, Gabriel was tapping my shoulder and with tears streaming down his face he said, "Mom- I don't feel good." Up I got, again and back to the kitchen we went. I've become an expert at dispensing medicine, the exact amount, 2 tsp in the dark. Giving Gabriel his medicine, I told him to lay on the couch as to not wake his brother and I went to grab his blanket and pillow. After getting him comfortable, I told him goodnight and went back to Dad and my bedroom. On the way, Gabriel asked if he could come get me if he needed anything else. Of course I said, knowing it wouldn't be too long before he called again.
I was right, a few minutes later Gabriel called for a cool wash cloth to put on his head. I got up again, only to hear Dad, still in a deep sleep, mumble something to me to stop moving and taking the covers. I got Gabriel his washcloth and a drink of water (as I knew that'd be the next request) and back to bed I went, again. After another 30 minutes of staring at the ceiling, thinking about the to do list of chores for me the following day, I fell asleep.
In what seemed like just a moment later, Jack was at my head nudging me to go out. Dad tried to tell him to go back to sleep, but like every other night, that doesn't work. So up again, this time outside into the fresh brisk air Jack and I went. Normally we just let him out as we stand insight in a daze, still half asleep. However, we now have to actually go outside with him because an owl has moved into the neighborhood. And in choosing to have a dog that is less than 5 pounds and as fierce as a cotton ball, we can't risk an owl thinking he is a rabbit and deciding to take Jack for a midnight treat. So WE follow him around like a dog protecting him from any flying animals.
Now at this point I'm full awake, nothing like 40 degree breeze in your face to wake one up. Determined to get some rest, I retired back to bed hoping that would be the end of the interruptions. I...of course...was... wrong. In the same pattern, 30 minutes of thinking followed by a brief snooze, the next interruption was Isabelle. She must have lost her covers because at 3:42 a.m. I heard her yelling "Momma!" over and over. After helping her get a drink, a repositioning of the covers and some prayers, she went back to sleep. Walking back to my room, Gabriel said, "Mom- my head still hurts" and in that moment I gave up. I continued to my bedroom, grabbed two pillows and went to the recliner chair, just 5 feet from Gabriel's head. I got him every last request he could think of (short of a bowl of cereal, guess he thought he might as well have breakfast since he was awake) and I attempted to get comfy in the chair.
I tried to remain quiet, not moving a single body part, until I knew Gabriel had fallen back asleep. The last time I looked at the clock on the wall, it read 4:17 a.m. which leads me to believe that I must have fallen asleep too. And I'm sure hoping it was restful because the next thing I remember was Michael standing right over my head in the reclined chair at 5:44 a.m. "Mom- can you help me? My sock has a string."
Until next time,
Angie
