Penguin

I have never been a solid sleeper. I’m sure I drove my parents nuts when I was younger. I was always late to get to bed, didn’t stay asleep, took forever to fall asleep or definitely protested waking up in the mornings.

I will always remember my Mom’s constant efforts to help me sleep. She would read to Zach and I (I think she read us every book in the “Boxcar” series). She would lay in bed next to me and rub my back until I fell asleep. My favorite method would have to be when she would sing her beloved songs from Echo Hill (the overnight camp she attended as a child and eventually sent Zach and myself to).

I remember she would pick me up and carry me over to my penguin nightlight (appropriately named “Penguin”) and sing “Our Paddles” which went something like “dip dip and swing and back, flashing like silver, follow the wild goose flight, dip dip and swing.” Every time she got to the “dip dip” verse she would dip me down as far as she could and swing me back up. Looking back, I’m sure this was more stimulating than it was relaxing, but it was her relentless determination to help me sleep that led her to try anything. That was my Mom. She was so relentlessly dedicated to Zach and myself that there was nothing to stop her from making sure we were taken care of.

I will always cherish those moments and refuse to let the images of these final days overtake those precious memories in my mind.

Our Paddles – Echo Hill