When I was younger I hated sleeping alone. I tried to prolong sleeping with someone as long as I could by moving from bed to bed in the house. I don't think there even was an empty bed for me in the house until Danny left for college. By that time I had become so accustomed to sleeping with someone, I didn't like sleeping alone. So I convinced myself there were people outside my window talking in the middle of the night and I asked my mom if I could sleep with her. Although she had moved me out of her bed a while before, I was able to stay with her because she had recently had Timmy and thus another child sharing her bed.
The first time mom moved me out of her bed I was put in bed with my oldest sister Mary. Molly and Bridget didn't seem too accepting of having anyone else in their room, I think they had enough drama in there. I believe I did spend a night or two in there and I was stricken by night terrors. The room gave me the chills for a while so I tried to stay away.
So I was put in bed with Mary who had her own room. I remember being a bit shy, but I was excited because she was my older sister. But then it came time for bed and I discovered something about Mary that I wasn't excited about. Mary's feet were the coldest, iciest things imaginable and she insisted putting them on me to warm them up. If she was going to let me sleep with her, I had to endure her warming her frigid feet on my calves. It was incredibly uncomfortable and I couldn't wait until they were warm. It was the same every night and they never seemed to warm up quickly enough. She knew how much I hated it so she started reading books to me so I'd be distracted from the pain. It seemed like a good exchange to me and I liked being able to cuddle up right next to her to get warm and comfortable. And so it became that I not only liked to share beds but I also really like to be cuddled up close.
I was recently putting Mary's son, North, to sleep and was amazed how familiar it was sleeping next to him. He cuddled right up to me and put his tiny feet in between my knees to get warm and cozy. It was nice to see that we had both learned to cuddle from the same person.
Theresa and Mary
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