Welcome to Story Time!

Last night was VERY unusual, in terms of my interactions with M. I don’t think he and I have ever had a conversation quite like it before.

I got home and drove into the garage, as usual, but when he came outside to greet me (as he normally does) I could tell he had something on his mind. He seemed preoccupied or bothered by something. I came into the house and he immediately said he didn’t want to upset me, but that he HAD to tell me something.

Uh oh. This didn’t sound good.

Then he went on, for the next ten minutes or so, and told me the most convoluted tale about how he didn’t understand how “these things ended up in here” (he was referring to a stack of dish towels he had moved from the kitchen into the pantry. I know exactly how they ended up there, but I don’t know why they were so concerning to him.) Then he walked me out of the pantry to show me the stack of mail from yesterday and to convey his concern about that.

Throughout the entire conversation, he would say things like “I’m sorry, but I don’t want to upset you.” And “I hate to tell you this.” And then just ramble on and on about nothing.

At first, I wanted to tell him that I had no idea what he was talking about. But then I realized, that would only upset him and really prolong whatever he was trying to say. So I thanked him for letting me know what was going on and told him how much I appreciated it.

And then we went on with our evening. It was all just fine.

This morning, he came in my room as I was trying to get ready for work to tell me that he felt okay, but that something was wrong. He was breathing deeply, almost panting – like he does when his stomach is hurting – so I asked if he was hungry. He said no, but I knew something was wrong.

I suggested he go get a coke and see if that helped.

He was gone for a while and then came back, breathing the same way, but with no coke. When I asked him about it, he said he couldn’t see. Turns out, he had gone down into the kitchen and then out into the garage, but hadn’t turned on any lights. And it’s dark at 6:30 in the morning.

I made a mental note to add turning on lights to my “1^st thing in the morning” routine as I walked downstairs to get him a coke, some saltines and Tums. Wouldn’t you know it, within ten minutes, he was feeling 100% better and watching another episode of Star Trek.

Ah, the healing power of saltines.