He’s been doing it for a while now, though up until now its usually been during breakfast. It’s my diabetes, he says, as his eyes start to become heavy, so heavy that soon he can no longer keep them open. I go back and forth up and down the stairs doing things and when I come back up he’s gone. Head bent forward, chin touching chest and shoulders rounded. He falls asleep watching things in bed, his iPad often slipping to the floor. Yesterday he started to go after supper. Why can’t I be more patient with him when he does this? It is after all, (like his chronic flatulence, yes, I know), beyond his control. But I am not. I get cross, irritated. I want him to be vital, awake and alive. And this, this snoozing at the table smacks of a dotage I don’t want to face – yet. It will come. Help me to be kinder when it does.
