Saturday, March 7, 2009

The Sleeping Angels

The upside of insomnia is that if you play it right you get some nice, quiet time to think and relax. So I reminded myself when I snapped awake at 2:50 this morning. I listened for a while to the roaring wind and to the softer, more peaceful rhythm of my wife's breathing. At one point she began to twitch and move, her breathing coming faster: she was dreaming. The dream passed, she rolled to face me and her arm brushed across my chest and shoulder. I felt her gentle squeeze, and lay still as she settled in deeper.

Sleep was coming no closer to me so finally at 4:15 I got up, dressed, made myself a cup of coffee and went upstairs to peek in on our daughter. She is learning to read now and it captures her focus like nothing I've seen. Her bed, therefore, is covered not just with stuffed animals but also with books. I found her on her side, snuggled up with a treasured puppy and a copy of "The Cat in the Hat."

Last night my wife and I talked about how nearly all the people we know have been impacted in some way by the current economic storm. We've been incredibly fortunate; I am still employed though the axe has swung awfully close more times than I'd like to count. As the sole breadwinner for our family, these sleeping angels are my responsibility. It is an awesome gift. They'll sleep a couple hours more, and then it will be our Saturday, full of the here and there of any normal weekend.

This morning I am grateful to the deepest part of my soul for the gift of their peaceful sleep. I'll sleep too some night. Until then, I can peek in on the Doodlebug, safe with her books and her stuffed friends, and I can feel Linda's familiar arm pulling me closer as she settles from a dream.