Good Morning, from Nashville. As I write, it is almost 8:30. I just got back from breakfast. Kate is still sleeping soundly. It was almost 10:30 when she went to bed last night. That’s later than usual for her. For a long time she has called it a day between 8:00 and 9:00. That has been inching up recently. If you’re a regular reader, you know that her sleeping has been become quite erratic. I hope this is not one of those days she feels like sleeping late. We need to leave the hotel by 10:30 in order to get to the airport, check in, and get lunch before our flight at 1:00.
In a way it’s funny how much of a burden someone with OCD tendencies puts on himself. Kate is quite relaxed about the trip. The only time she is bothered is when I rush her. That can be a real problem. I guess I am a little bit like a tour operator. I know there is a schedule we need to meet. In order to do that there are a whole series of things that have to be done before. I’m always at work trying to make this happen without rushing her. I’ve become more successful over time. It’s hard for me to remember her last panic attack. I don’t like to see these.
Increasingly, Kate has helped me by getting up without much problem even when she hasn’t wanted to. I’m going to count on that. I know it takes her an hour or hour and a half to get ready from the time she gets up. That means I can only let her sleep another thirty minutes or so. If she gets up easily, we’ll have no problem. That’s what I am counting on.
There is another thing that I have to plan around when we are traveling. I like to get up early and have breakfast while Kate is sleeping. I realize, however, that she won’t remember where we are. I don’t want her to be uneasy if she wakes up before I get back. Before we leave home, I create signs for each place we stay. For example, I have an 8 ½ x 11” sign that says, “We are at the Residence Inn, Nashville, TN. Frank is having breakfast in the lobby.” In addition, I make sure that I eat quickly or bring my breakfast back to the room. Fortunately, these are insurance measures. Kate almost never wakes up before I return. When she does, she goes to the bathroom and returns to bed.
I feel good about today’s trip knowing that we have a direct flight. In the past, we have changed planes in Atlanta. With Kate’s arthritic knee giving her trouble, that could be a problem. After losing Kate in the Atlanta airport for thirty minutes last fall, I am more than a bit skittish about going through that again.
