You Set My Alarm

I went scrapbooking this past weekend – something I’ve never done before. I packed up all my supplies and more than enough clothes for the weekend and traveled to Newark to commence cutting and pasting pictures, tags, swirls, letters etc.

Somehow I just get lost in the creative process while all the cares, agendas and voices of responsibility drift from my consciousness. What a wonderful feeling. No ringing of the phone, no “what’s for dinner,” no “did you wash my shirt”, no “you have to get this done?” -- just focusing on creating memories.

At one point while deep in the creative process I heard the words “you set my alarm.” I had actually heard most of the conversation but these words struck a subconscious chord – my writing chord. I had just been given a creative phrase for writing. I immediately stopped and wrote it down while making a mental note of its significance.

Normally a phrase with “alarm” in it would not be a positive phrase. I live with an internal alarm that is set off by different circumstances; the Mommy alarm, the wife alarm, the dinner alarm, the deadline alarm, or the “wake up out of a perfect sleep” alarm which jars me to reality. I live for the day when I can sleep until my eyes just pop open – without the alarm.

However, in this case the phrase “you set my alarm” was a good phrase. My new friend was talking about how their lives had changed dramatically since her husband was on shift work. Their normal lives of doing everything together had been turned upside down and inside out. But here she was thanking her husband for setting her alarm. He didn’t give it a second thought. What was so special about resetting the alarm after he had risen from bed? She answered him emphatically, “you set my alarm.”

I knew exactly what she meant. On the few occasions when my husband has to get up earlier than me, I have to reset the alarm. He doesn’t even know how to set it. Sometimes just getting awake enough to reset the alarm is enough to wake me up completely. If I don’t reset it then I’m constantly thinking about missing my wake-up time and, consequently I don’t really sleep. Or, I fall asleep and dream of missing the expected responsibility. It’s terribly frustrating.

So, when she was thanking for husband for that small task of resetting the alarm, I understood its significance. I got it. It’s a small act that makes a huge difference. It’s an act of consideration. “You set my alarm” says I love you in a big way.

My husband may not reset the alarm but he does many small acts of consideration that say “I love you” in a big way. Let’s not take those small acts for granted. Thank your husband, children or friend for small acts of consideration. Or, just maybe, “set their alarm” for once.

I quickly re-immersed myself in the creative process of scrapbooking. However, I didn’t just bring home sixteen pages of memories; but new friendships upon which to build and a reminder to “set someone’s alarm.”