The rational thing to do

It's 3:15 am and I am awake. Not because I want to be but, once I wake up it is always challenging for me to return to dreamland.

I had gone to bed at a decent hour. 10:30. Fallen asleep quickly and was enjoying my slumberland adventures when I heard my daughters come home just after midnight. There is something so comforting and familiar and special about hearing their voices chatting in the quiet of the sleeping house -- not that anyone was sleeping other than Ellie our Golden. Marley the Great Cat was padding around, looking for trouble. And I was obviously awake. I lay in the dark and listened to their voices, not really hearing the words, just listening to the rhythm of their speech.


And then, I checked the time and realized C.C. would be getting home from Minneapolis at any moment, may as well stay up. But then, his car pulling into the driveway didn't happen. I didn't hear his key turning in the lock. I tried his cell phone and there was no answer so I got up to check the computer to see if his flight was delayed.

My daughter, Alexis, was still up.

What are you doing? she asked, coming into the office where I was madly typing queries into the 'google' bar.

Trying to find out if C.C.'s flight was delayed.

What airline is he on? she asked.

I don't know.

Oh. What city is he flying in from?

Last I talked to him he was in Chicago and he thought he'd be in at midnight.

Have you tried calling him?

Yup. But his cell is either turned off or dead.

How are you going to find out what time he's coming in if you don't know the airline? she asked, in her painfully obvious way.

Um. Well, I've checked Air Canada. Westjet. Delta. United and none of them have a flight from Chicago still to land. I think the airport has a flight tracker. I'll try them.

And so I did and sure enough, there was a flight tracker I could query. Except, there was no flight coming in from Chicago at any time in the early hours of the morning.

Are you sure he was in Chicago? she asked, again that painfully obvious question.

Not really, I replied.

Then you can't really check on where he's at, she stated.

Ouch. If I don't know where he's flying from, how can I find out when he lands?

He did arrive home, safe and sound. At 1:30 am. Dead tired. He'd finally flown in from Spokane. His original flight out of Chicago had been cancelled and he'd been rerouted -- to Seattle and then Spokane.

And I was still up. Alexis curled up in bed with me talking about life and struggle and staying positive and self-sabotage and all the things we do to make life more difficult than it needs to be.

It was one of those special moments. One of those moments when I feel valued and honoured and oh so grateful to be the mother of these two amazing young women. So grateful for having a relationship with my daughters where they feel open and free to share, the fears, joys, trepidations, sadness and wonder of their lives.

When C.C. walked into our bedroom, the light was on and Alexis poked her head up from beneath the covers and joined me in welcoming him home.

She got out of bed, hugged him and went to her own bed as we curled up together and he shared the adventures of his day.

He fell asleep and I lay beside him. Wide awake.

Best to just get up and write. 'Cause then, I can ignore my alarm when it goes off at 5:30 am. I can keep sleeping -- in -- until 7:30.

It was the rational thing to do.

Really.