Coughs

He woke up at 2:40am Saturday with that distinctive seal-bark cough. Bob had croup and was having trouble taking a breath. Taking him into the cold night air was the best thing I could do for his wheezing, according to my old pal, WebMD. We left Jeff and the dogs in bed and I bundled Bob up in a puffy coat over his pajamas. We got in the car for a slow drive around the neighborhood.

Bob was very brave. He took big gulping breaths, holding his head out the window like a Labrador. His breathing eased. We toured the nearby streets. We drove past Bob's school and Clementine's house. We drove past Sabine's, and Micah's, Desmond's, Felix's, Ferruccio's, and Cleo's grandma's place. We pictured our friends, sleeping in their beds. We talked about who in the neighborhood still had their Christmas lights up and who turns off their porch light at bedtime. We sang along to songs on the radio. We cruised.

We came back and had a drink of water. I set up the vaporizer next to the bed and and as Bob fell back to sleep he whispered, "Mom, I love you." Our dog Teddy crawled up and rested his head on the pillow next to Bob's. It was a regular night again. Soon, we were dreaming.