Category: health

Sometimes, that’s how I wake up.

It’s 1:07 PM and Jared and I are just getting breakfast. This morning was rough. It is the kind of morning where I move slow and everything hurts and I am not steady on my feet and I fall into Jared when he hugs me in the kitchen. 

I’ve resisted writing for a long time recently. I don’t just sit to write. I don’t journal; I rarely do my gratitude list and when I do it feels like platitudes, not the real thing.

I didn’t sleep well last night; I woke up three times.

Since the whole “analytics ate the timestamp on one of my first emails to Jared” night a couple of weeks ago, Jared has slept in the living room. 

I knew it was different that night because when he went to the living room, he packed up his CPAP and took it with him. That has been a months-long fight: he goes to the living room to sleep because I am scared for whatever reason, but he will absolutely NOT take his CPAP with him.

Except, now he does. Every night. 

And generally, I do sleep better when he’s out here (where I am now writing). Knowing he is the first line of defense in case the random things-I-think-are-going-to-get-in-the-house-but-never-do really does make a difference.

One night in the last couple of weeks I woke up at 4:02 AM. I was sure I’d heard a knock on our bedroom door. I called out my reflex “JARED!” as I always do immediately upon waking when it’s his cue to go investigate the mystery noises that are never there. Jared was already out in the living room. That noise had been so real though.

“I hate my life.”

In those moments there, lying on my side under at least five blankets which include at least a comforter and two heavy fleece-type blankets, it hardly seems worth being grateful.

Facebook does not help.

This morning’s memories included the lovely photo walk Jared and I went on at Hobbs Farm exactly a year ago today. The featured photo is a photo I took on that walk. I thought I’d like to go on another photo walk today…except I sold the 100-200mm lens I used in that walk last year. None of my current lenses are ideal for wildlife photography. 

“I wish I’d never gotten into photography,” I wailed at Jared at some point this morning. 

I don’t always see the bits I wouldn’t have otherwise seen if I look back at my photos later.

The blog gets random weird bot analytics.

The boys are grown and prefer the company of themselves in their own rooms over spending time out in the main areas of the house.

I feel aimless, unanchored.

And always, always, always…I lament not having a job, not having the prestige of a career, not having substantive income of my own both so that I can help support us and also so I could buy the things I want without guilt. 

People I know are not always helpful; just yesterday my own mother said, “Caroline, you should just make yourself do it,” when I was lamenting the state of our dirty house that I am unable to keep up with.

As if it were that easy, proving my family has zero clue as I’ve always known. 

I am up now. I have had breakfast, or lunch or snack, or whatever: a protein bar, a tiny cup of walnuts, a very small section of brie, and six fruity jellies from Trader Joe’s.

I won’t allow myself my coffee until I’ve had the entirety of my full water bottle first.

And later, it won’t be so bad. My legs won’t feel shaky when I walk. 

Jared says the PTSD is like this. I never remember. 

I won’t feel as though I will wilt. I will get a shower for the first time in two days. 

But for now, I write, because that’s one of the few things I can do in moments like this. 

Sometimes, that’s how I wake up.

It’s 1:07 PM and Jared and I are just getting breakfast. This morning was rough. It is the kind of morning where I move slow and everything hurts and I am not steady on my feet and I fall into Jared when he hugs me in the kitchen. 

I’ve resisted writing for a long time recently. I don’t just sit to write. I don’t journal; I rarely do my gratitude list and when I do it feels like platitudes, not the real thing.

I didn’t sleep well last night; I woke up three times.

Since the whole “analytics ate the timestamp on one of my first emails to Jared” night a couple of weeks ago, Jared has slept in the living room. 

I knew it was different that night because when he went to the living room, he packed up his CPAP and took it with him. That has been a months-long fight: he goes to the living room to sleep because I am scared for whatever reason, but he will absolutely NOT take his CPAP with him.

Except, now he does. Every night. 

And generally, I do sleep better when he’s out here (where I am now writing). Knowing he is the first line of defense in case the random things-I-think-are-going-to-get-in-the-house-but-never-do really does make a difference.

One night in the last couple of weeks I woke up at 4:02 AM. I was sure I’d heard a knock on our bedroom door. I called out my reflex “JARED!” as I always do immediately upon waking when it’s his cue to go investigate the mystery noises that are never there. Jared was already out in the living room. That noise had been so real though.

“I hate my life.”

In those moments there, lying on my side under at least five blankets which include at least a comforter and two heavy fleece-type blankets, it hardly seems worth being grateful.

Facebook does not help.

This morning’s memories included the lovely photo walk Jared and I went on at Hobbs Farm exactly a year ago today. The featured photo is a photo I took on that walk. I thought I’d like to go on another photo walk today…except I sold the 100-200mm lens I used in that walk last year. None of my current lenses are ideal for wildlife photography. 

“I wish I’d never gotten into photography,” I wailed at Jared at some point this morning. 

I don’t always see the bits I wouldn’t have otherwise seen if I look back at my photos later.

The blog gets random weird bot analytics.

The boys are grown and prefer the company of themselves in their own rooms over spending time out in the main areas of the house.

I feel aimless, unanchored.

And always, always, always…I lament not having a job, not having the prestige of a career, not having substantive income of my own both so that I can help support us and also so I could buy the things I want without guilt. 

People I know are not always helpful; just yesterday my own mother said, “Caroline, you should just make yourself do it,” when I was lamenting the state of our dirty house that I am unable to keep up with.

As if it were that easy, proving my family has zero clue as I’ve always known. 

I am up now. I have had breakfast, or lunch or snack, or whatever: a protein bar, a tiny cup of walnuts, a very small section of brie, and six fruity jellies from Trader Joe’s.

I won’t allow myself my coffee until I’ve had the entirety of my full water bottle first.

And later, it won’t be so bad. My legs won’t feel shaky when I walk. 

Jared says the PTSD is like this. I never remember. 

I won’t feel as though I will wilt. I will get a shower for the first time in two days. 

But for now, I write, because that’s one of the few things I can do in moments like this.