Perceptions: Lesson Learned

My nephew Will and his bride Liz. May they have few sleepless nights.

I have a couple as clients weekday mornings. The husband, usually, rises with the sun. The wife, not so much. She and I have an agreement that her rise and shine time is 10 o'clock. And at times that is a struggle.  For the last nine months I have listened to family members going on about how much their mother loves to sleep. "I've come over at noon and she's still in bed." or "She sleeps and sleeps and sleeps."

One could think she's just lazy. One could think she is depressed. That is until you catch a whiff of her wild sense of humor and charm. Or one could have been part of a recent conversation where she confided in endless sleepless nights after bearing up to 70 years of her husband's restless sleep patterns.

"You know, he sleeps though all the banging, tossing and turning. I'm up half the night."

I casually mentioned separate sleeping arrangements. I got the "You've got to be kidding look." Then she smiled and we sent about our day. Though I did ratchet back the PT, because she looked tired. Understandably.