Hello, and welcome to May!
What with having my knee surgery in early April and
all that followed, I can’t even believe we’re TWO FULL WEEKS into May already. Where
does time go? Speaking of my knee, things have been going pretty well. I don’t
see improvement every day, BUT I do see a lot of changes when I
look back. I’ve been taking pictures of my knee ever since the bandage came
off. I felt very encouraged today when I looked back at those early photos and
saw a good amount of healing since then. For me, that’s a great big “YAY!”
First,
let me start with a question. Do you remember back to when you were a child,
and you could sleep a solid night through, from the time you went to bed until
the time your mother (or your alarm clock) woke you in the morning? For the
most part, that was my experience. Sure, there’d be an occasional bad dream or
times when I’d have something important on my mind, but overall, I slept pretty
well when I was young.
Well…
suffice it to say that things have changed. I haven’t slept a solid night
through in many (MANY) years. I’m lucky now if I only get up once
a night and not multiples. Thankfully, I often go right back to sleep, but not always.
I’ve grown to dread the nights when I get back in bed and then…
Man,
I’m tired. I’m so glad I’m back in bed… but why am I cold? I wasn’t cold three
minutes ago when I got out of bed. Why now? I sit up and gather all of my sheets
and blankets around me, tuck my arms down inside and think, there, nice and
warm. Now I’ll fall back to sleep.
One
minute later…
Man,
I’m hot. I sure don’t need all of these sheets and blankets wrapped around me. I toss the bulk of it off to the
side, but not too far. These days, I might just need it all again soon.
There,
now I’m much more comfortable. I’ll just close my eyes and drift back off. Not so fast. My eyes won’t close.
They feel tired, almost heavy even, but open they are.
As
I lay in the dark, I realize that my right eyebrow feels itchy. With my eyes
wide open, I work my right hand out from under my sheet, and allow it to maneuver
its way to my face. I scratch the culprit. Once it seems satisfied, I tuck my
hand back down into the cocoon from which it came. Aah, That’s better… My
eyes close easily, and I lie still for a moment until…
Oh
no! What’s… what’s… what’s this??? Aaaachooooo! I sneeze. Really? Who sneezes in
their sleep. Oh yeah, I’m not sleeping, am I? Slowly, with my left hand
this time, I reach for my tissue box, ensuring I don’t upsot my water cup. Once
I blow my nose, I settle my left hand back under my sheets. All set. (Again.)
I
begin to think. I know, I know… you’re probably thinking that thinking is a
very bad idea. I should do absolutely anything else but think, yet… I think
anyway. I ponder on past events I haven’t thought of in years, attempting
to remember details I’ve overlooked or forgotten. Sometimes I think about
current events such as why somebody did what they did, or said what they said. I
even think about writing and what I should write next. Like this Blog post!
This was dreamt up in the middle of a night.
In
the midst of all my thinking, my neck begins to itch. Aww, come on! What’s
next? My left hand makes its way up to the back of my neck. I scratch and scratch
the area this time, hoping to overcompensate, just in case my neck gets
any more bright ideas of itching again. I settle back in one more time.
Hold
on! I
realize that I’ve lost track of what I was thinking about! What was it? I
can’t remember, so I prop up on my right elbow and glance at the clock. It’s
3:15. Uh oh… that’s the time all the weird things happened in the book/movie “The
Amityville Horror.” I never should have read or seen it, but… I was going
through a phase. This new scary memory, unfortunately, gives me plenty of new
material to think about.
Finally, I make a pact with myself. No. More. Scratching. If something itches, it’ll have to wait until morning. No. More. Thinking. The most I’ll think about is counting backwards from 100 to zero. Although, to be honest, I’ll likely shoot up a quick prayer for a restful “rest-of-my-night”. That can’t hurt…
Before
I know it, I’m awake again. The clock reads 6:30, and I breathe a sigh of relief.
Since I can’t remember the last three hours, I conclude that I did, indeed, somehow fall
asleep. Todd is up, retrieving socks from his dresser drawer. I say, “I don’t
know why, but I couldn’t sleep last night.” Of course he comes back quickly
with, “Well, you sure were sleeping just now!” Okay, okay… He thinks he knows what
I’ve been through, but he really has no clue, does he?
And
so, here I am, sharing this late-night masterpiece with you all. Now that I’ve
filled you in on some of my own sleep-deprived experiences, I’ll ask one more
time – can anyone else relate?
My
guess is a resounding YES!
Have great weeks, everybody!
Katie
Katie Kolberg Memmel is the author of
three books: “Five Fingers, Ten Toes… a Mother’s Story of Raising a Child Born
with a Limb Difference – 10-Year Anniversary Edition, now with Photos”; “From
This Day Forward…”; and “Silly Stories and Sentimental Stuff.” For more
information about Katie and her writing, please visit her website at: www.katiekolbergmemmel.com
