SWEET DREAMS

As a child, I would ask my mother every night to, Please, say a prayer for protection. Then my mother would say the same prayer, asking for a great big golden bubble to be placed around our house so that all those people in it might be protected and safe as they slept. That was one of the most comforting things to me: hearing my mother speak softly by my ear, whispering the words like an incantation. I seem to remember feeling more worried for the welfare of my family than for myself. The spell was to protect them, all I needed to feel safe was the nightly ritual.

Now, most every night I sing to Oliver. I sing lulling songs with a faint voice in the dark. He always goes to sleep much more quickly when I sing, and I can hear his breathing change to a deep hum. Sometimes I even sing myself to sleep unknowingly, waking only on the last word of the song. I always sing the one about the stars shining bright, and the night breezes whispering...