Friday, January 7, 2011

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.

11 comments:

Glynn said...

I see I'm not the only one up in the wee hours of this morning.

Reading this, Louise, I had to laugh. I can't count the times I've had conversations like this one with my two sons.

Anonymous said...

Your daughters are blessed to have a mother like you.

lots of love.
trisha
mydomainpvt.wordpress.com

Louise Gallagher said...

Nice to have had your company Glynn. Don't you love it when your kids are wiser than you? :)

Thanks Trisha. I am blessed to be their mother.

S. Etole said...

it's best to do what's rational ....

Brandi said...

Oh you silly woman! I wondered why you left a comment for me at 3 am!
Hope you sleep soundly tonight :)

Claudia said...

oh now that was a night...my son came home today when i was leaving for work..at 6 am...he's 18 years old now

Hope said...

was everyone up in the wee hours? lol I was too!

yes, your girls have an awesome mom

hope you sleep better tonight

Arts web show said...

I have a similar problem with sleep so i just dont go to bed until i am totally tired. lol

Louise Gallagher said...

Isn't it amazing how many of us have congruent sleeping issues!

Hugs everyone. Thanks for dorpping in. it's love lovely to see you!

Anonymous said...

i remember no tv programs after 2am and no computer. along with no cell phones to get in touch. no stores open 24 hours.

actually i remember back farther than that...but not everyone would relate to black and white tv and movie of the week.

Maureen said...

Marcus proposed for next week's Random Acts of Poetry that we write about the issue we struggle with. You've just identified it.