Pleasant Dreams Dr. Juan Harrison

Sitting in my office looking at a canvas picture of two-year-old Jack chewing on a stick, I find myself looking at pictures on my phone of his 6th birthday in his hunting gear with his dad at a reserve in Northeast Texas, I wonder where the time went. Did I fall asleep like Rip Van Winkle and not realize time had flown. I already had a bad habit of dozing off if I sat very long, especially if I get comfy like I do on the couch in the bedroom. One minute it’s 3 pm on the Fox channel. I blink my eyes and it’s now 4:30. I think this tired old body let me down once more.

You and me and the rest of the members of Nappers Anonymous swear we don’t do that, but I think we do. I talked to one fella about his problem of not sleeping at night. Not saying I’m skeptical of his denials of daytime napping, but I have checked on him more than once only to walk in and find him so deep in sleep that he didn’t hear me enter from his recliner.

I think any number of us Nappers Anonymous might consider that they’re actually sleeping enough in the daytime so as to get their days and nights turned upside down. For several years I served our church as Visitation Pastor complete with my own calling card that I often left on their tray in their nursing home room. Maybe I found them slumped over in their wheelchair with a number of their peers surrounding the nurse’s station. Maybe it was their way of coping with constant loneliness with few visitors coming by, or maybe, like me, the miles on the old body just started catching up on them.

I love my bed. I don’t like to be gone from it for too long. The pillow, the covers, the hollowed-out area that just fits me, I love it. Early in the evenings I can hear it call my name like Mama calling me to supper on the farm as a boy. Sometimes Mamaw’s watching a show back there, so I try to occupy myself until I finally mosey in there, get undressed and hop into bed. I think I hear myself say “AAH,” or maybe I make a little snorting sound as I snuggle underneath the covers. If the TV’s on, I just pull the cover over my head.

All of us have some kind of bedtime or sleeping regimen. Maybe these days we go to bed a little earlier, sleep a little later, as we get those 8,9,10 hours of rest that evaded us when life was more hectic. Sleep is so awesome. It’s free, it’s peaceful on a good night if you don’t have to fight the insomnia bug. It’s great if you don’t fall asleep and then find yourself wide awake at times. It’s great if the dreams are peaceful and not disturbing. Here’s wishing all of you pleasant dreams and a restful night.