5 am Roll Call

Early morning today. I awoke to the sound of my Dad falling out of bed. I waited for a minute and heard him get up so I assumed everything was alright. Hellllllooooo, what was I thinking??? I coolly and oh so smugly stroll into the bathroom and begin to do my business. Soon I hear Dad frantically running down the hall calling me. Barbara! Stella! Helen! (all his sisters) So while to pee as fast as I can (which is not something you can really rush) I start yelling "Here I am!"

I finish up and race out of the bathroom imagining blood and guts and find my Dad racing in the dark to find me. I call and walk over to him. He looks at me and says "Where have you been?" Okay, I admit it, I am a little tired and a little cranky and say "I was peeing but before that I was sleeping." He looks at me and says "Oh, you were sleeping?" Complete shock. I reply, "Yes, Dad it is 5 am, I was sleeping." Now comes the "I am being oh so patient voice. He looks at me and explains that he would like to go to sleep but he cannot find his bed. I looked him dead in the eye and explained that if he stayed in his bed he would not lose his bed.

All of a sudden I hear myself having this conversation in the wee hours of the morning, in the chilled hallway of our house and I start to laugh. The sheer silliness of someone losing their bed and having to get out of their bed to FIND their bed is overwhelming and I just giggle. My Dad looks at me shakes his head and asks if he can go to bed now. "Yes, you can Dad" I say gently and show him where his bed is. The bed that is still warm from him lying in it minutes prior.