WEE HOURS

Three days after I met JR, he was called off to a job in East Texas.

We started a habit. A morning habit that I love and that I hope never changes until we are 80 years old and I can't hear him in the phone anymore and I have to turn my super space age hearing aid up.

He calls me in the morning when he wakes up. This is usually about 5:30 am. And whether we talk for 2 minutes or 20, we touch home base every day with each other. His voice settles in my heart before I start my day.

I'm not sure I remember why we started it...perhaps he knew he would be too busy out on the site to call. But I know that we both just agreed that it is the best thing since sliced bread.

After a few missed alarms, we decided that if it got to 7 am and he hadn't called, I would call him, lest he be kidnapped by aliens or East Texas hillbillies.

After we hang up, I get up.

This time in the morning is precious to me. It is quiet. It is serene. I make my coffee, I turn on the radio and I sit in my glider in the dining room. I read. I catch up. I take a deep breath and stare into the day ahead.

Most often, I pray.

At dinner the other night, Haynes and I were talking about her desire to get up earlier and have that sacred peace in the morning. And now that I do it, I can't imagine not having it.

Traditionally, I have not been good at "alone" - I love to share my life, my happiness, my laughter with friends, family, children, animals. But this morning habit, this alone time, has become so vital to me. I crave it. My soul needs it.

We think we know it all. Hell, I DEFINITELY think I know it all. And then one day you look up and think "how in the...?!?!&*$%!" - and then the next morning in that glider...I grow. Older. Wiser. A little bit anyway. Probably not as much, but I'm sitting in the glider every day, so, you know, BABY STEPS.

All because he and I touch base every morning.

You, my friends, have seen a lot in my lifetime. A LOT. We've been through a lot.

Let me assure you when I tell you this: he is home base.

I am home.