The Midnight Text

Yes, I confess. The call of the night owl frequently captures me. The quiet when much of the world supposedly sleeps is a calm and restful time. There is something soothing about the silence, when busyness slows, the day rests. Occasionally surprises occur. For years parental high alert kept dear hubby and me anticipating the not-unusual late night phone calls that rudely jangled us awake from a deep sleep. Some were work related, or family emergencies, or random wrong numbers. Now as grandparents we are at those more relaxed years when late night surprises are rare. Yet in the still of the night silent messages do appear.

How about a plethora of hamburger emojis at 12:10 AM . . . what can a Nana do but respond with, “Hello!💞🥰”, when unsure which grandchild is sending the text? The answer comes next: a row of hamburgers alternating with tacos. Ok . . . “I’m hungry, too? Are you?” No answer. “Are you sleeping?” No answer. “Nite nite. I love you!💞😘” Finally, a response, and a “Good night” from an identified child.

A few minutes later, returning from a raid to the frig (oh, the power of suggestion), I noticed an audio message. Listening, I heard the sweet voice of a very special breed of night owl crooning it’s own good-night song into my ear. Though convinced we both needed to turn off the small screens earlier and GO TO SLEEP, this precious time late in the night hugged my soul! I’m glad I was still up to partake in it! “Nite nite, sweet owl! Off to bed I go!” 💞😴