The Warm Spot

My husband and I sleep together. Every night. I like to snuggle and he lets me. Our bed is king-sized, but we sleep in the very middle and let the rest of the bed go to waste. When we spend the night at our daughter's home, we sleep on a twin bed quite comfortably. We have slept in a single sleeping bag together. One night on a mountain camping trip with icicles on the tent, we slept on just one army cot. I remember being a bit uncomfortable but at least I was warm and cherished. Nowadays, we often snuggle on our narrow couch and nap in each other's arms. When the daffodils bloom this spring, we will have been married 38 years. We are experts at sleeping together.

My husband snores. But his snoring resembles someone trying to blow out birthday candles - just gentle puffs of air. When it disturbs me, I groggily press my palm against his shoulder, he turns onto his side and resumes normal breathing. I snuggle against his back and continue sleeping. Our legs and feet or hips and arms must be touching in the night. The few nights in our marriage we had been apart were his occasional weekend of fishing with the guys or my annual girlfriend get-a-ways. That was until a job required me to spend my weekdays in another city. We thought "we can do this." Little did I know how hard it would be for me to sleep without him. I tried to be brave and not mention it. I found things to do well into the night to exhaust myself to sleep. I woke many mornings disoriented and in search of my long-time sleeping partner. I missed the soft snoring and the times he inadvertently snagged my hair at night. I missed hearing him mumble as he dreamed. I missed him reaching for me and slinging a leg over mine. What I did enjoy were the sheets always being neat and straight. I discovered that it was most definitely him that mangled the covers.

Two years later, that job ended and we returned to our normal sleeping arrangements. Over a glass of sweet Riesling one evening, my husband said "I will never take you for granted again!" He had felt the same unrest (pun intended?) in my absence. Later, we moved to the center of our big bed and snuggled down, content to once again be together every night. As I stayed awake watching his chest rise and fall, I began to feel chilly - so, I just pressed against him and he automatically moved aside to let me have the warm spot.