I am like just about every other eight-to-five working person – I LOVE my weekends and the opportunity to leave the alarm clock turned off for those two mornings! Of course the two dogs in our lives don’t understand the concept of “sleeping in” and believe that they must eat at 5:30 a.m. every single morning, weekends included. Therefore, I’m thrilled, thankful, and thoroughly enjoy any Saturday or Sunday morning when they will let me sleep until 6:00 a.m. However, yesterday (Sunday, September 5) I wasn’t as fortunate. As is all too common, they were nudging me to get up around 5:45 a.m. and I was doing my best to ignore them.
That was when the phone rang. These days our phone doesn’t ring much - especially not at 5:45 a.m. on a Sunday morning. But with the phone on Joe’s side of the bed, he had to reach over and answer the call. Once again, I worked hard to ignore the interruption to gratify my desire to sleep just a little big longer. That is, until I heard him respond to the person on the other end of the line with, “Hey, Buddy! How are you?” Needless to say, I was out of bed immediately, and racing down the hall to grab one of the other phones. It was TJ!
It was about 4:00 p.m. in Kuwait and heading into the evening of his day off. (The temperatures there are still in the low 100’s and the twelve-hour shifts are very long. But, TJ is still thoroughly enjoying his time in the “sandbox”). As exhausted as he was after spending another long day in the hot sun, my son was calling to wish me a happy birthday. “I wanted to make sure that I got to talk with you before you left for church,” he explained.
As we talked we learned a little bit more about the daily things of his life in Kuwait. He explained to us the hours of the mess hall and added that they provide small energy drinks 24/7 for free to “the guys.” (The FREE part is the important element of that story. I have no doubt that TJ is taking full advantage of it!)
Having just enjoyed the first Saturday of college football, I just HAD to ask him what was available to him. TJ said that they were showing the Michigan game in the mess hall (on his Sunday), but because he had already checked the final score online, watching the game wasn’t as much fun after-the-fact. They have TVs in various other buildings on the base. One such place is the gym, so he catches various shows that are playing while he is working out. But most of the time he has learned how to get what he wants to see through the internet. He can then watch things in his room where nobody cares if he falls asleep fifteen minutes into the show!
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| Celebrating together, September 2003 |
This past Sunday had been his day off, too. He was able to enjoy a little bit more time resting, spent part of it working out at the gym, used some of the day to do some reading, and … he called home to wish me a happy birthday. I am usually no happy camper when my sleep is interrupted, especially on a day when I am able to sleep in just a little bit longer. But … to hear TJ’s voice, to know that he remembered Mom’s birthday, and to have him arrange his schedule on his day off to make sure that he called home when I would be there - well, I’ll take that wake-up call any and every day of the week!
TJ, you gave me the very best “wake-up” call I’ve ever had! (I just wish I could return the favor to you early tomorrow morning before the sun rises on your 24th birthday). Happy birthday, Son. I love you!
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