After it had gotten later and later, and mom had tried her turn, and they would be headed for bed themselves, I would still be there laying awake and upset. It would be my dad then to come in. He would talk with me and try to get me calm. Through this period, one of the things he did that tried to help was he showed me this little sack of Kentucky bluegrass seeds he kept in his top dresser drawer. He only got the bag out for me when I really needed it. I would clutch onto the bag and manage to sleep. The seeds had come from his days of dating my mom. She had given them to him, and for some reason he had kept them through the years.
My dad passed away after years of battling MS, and one of the things I still have in my safe box in that little bag of bluegrass seeds.
My 7 year old has been having a hard time lately. It breaks my heart to see the struggles he has. One of his troubles is nightmares. He has them almost nightly and is terrified. It doesn't seem to matter how we try to convince him that those things aren't real. He comes to us in the middle of night so scared his little body shakes and quivers.
Last night I pulled him aside and told him I was going to show him something from his Grandpa. That neither Tatum or Jake had ever gotten to use it. I told him how when I was little I had hard times too at bedtime. I got out the little sack and let him take it to bed. I told him that even though Grandpa died before he was born, that he would watch over him from Heaven. I crossed my fingers and he did fall asleep without any trouble.
About 4 o'clock he came to me and handed it back to me and said "Here...these don't work...I had a bad dream". But I told him to keep it, that it would still help.
When he woke up this morning I asked how he slept. He said that he had all good dreams, except for that one! I said "See, it does help!"
I pray that we can work through all of Matthew's troubles one at a time. I'm so glad I have the help from my dad on this one.
">
