An unusual slumber party

When my twin daughters were about 4 ½ years old my grandmother asked if they could spend the night at her house.  My grandmother was about 81 years old at that time and crippled with arthritis.  She was able to navigate with the help of a walker but certainly wasn’t up to chasing two 4 year olds.  But the girls were excited to spend the night and my grandmother was elated when I finally let go of my concerns and said yes.

I bathed the girls and dressed them in their pajamas before taking them to grandma’s house. 

I gave the girls explicit instructions to be on their best behavior.  My grandma had one very large bedroom in her duplex.  She had her full size bed on one side of the room and another ¾ bed on the opposite wall directly under the window.  The girls would sleep in the smaller bed.

I left the three of them reading a storybook and preparing for bed. 

When I got home I tried my best to relax and not worry about them but my imagination got the best of me.  There was no way I was going to get any sleep worrying about them so I got one of our sleeping bags and a pillow and went back to grandma’s house. 

There were enough bushes around the house to conceal me from passersby so I set up camp outside grandma’s bedroom window.  There was just enough space under the curtain to allow me to see my grandma tucked into her bed.  Although grandma had left a small light on in the room for the girls I couldn’t see them as they were just below the cracked window where I was standing.  However, I could hear them as they giggled and talked.  I listened to their sweet little voices as they tried to tell my grandmother a story.  Grandma was nodding and fighting to keep her eyes open.  Finally she told the girls it was time to close their eyes.   It wasn’t long before the room was silent except for my grandma’s snores.

I slept that night on the ground outside my grandma’s window.  I continued to check on the three ladies through the night but all was well.  Just at daybreak I gathered my sleeping bag and went home.  When I returned about two hours later grandma and the girls were having a wonderful breakfast of biscuits and jam. 

 No one was the wiser and it was a memory my grandmother cherished until her death just two months later.