When Cathy goes on call

My wife is doing her medical residency, and that means she has to go on call at times (ranging anywhere from not at all to a couple times a week, depending on which rotation she's on). And for a medical resident, "call" means being at the hospital for at least 24 hours straight, sleeping if she's not busy, until the pager goes off.

The evening before call can be a full evening. She'll have three meals during her time away and prefers not to buy them at the hospital, so she packs a bunch of food in the evening. Maybe I try to help her out where I can or maybe I try to get something else done. But however it goes, there's less time to sit or walk together and just enjoy each other's presence.

The next morning we both leave for work, but my work day is a normal length. I come home to a quiet house--not unusual even on a non-call day, but today it stays quiet. I make myself some supper and have nobody to share it with. Later, maybe I get some stuff done around the house, or I get together with friends, or I do some grocery shopping. I'm more of an evening person than Cathy is, so I may stay up later than I normally would if she's home. Maybe I waste time on the internet. Sometimes I stay up later than I should. I may be more of an evening person than she is, but I'm not a big night person.

I fall asleep alone, wake up in the morning, and go to work. I know that sometime this morning, she will get off work and come home. She probably only got a few hours of sleep. But she doesn't sleep well in the mid-morning, so she saves the rest of her sleep for the afternoon.

When I get home from work, she's probably asleep still. I go to our bedroom and give her a kiss and she starts to wake up. After she wakes up, she holds me tight and gives me a kiss. Together we make supper and have some time for some good conversation. One or both of us may go out for some evening activities, but regardless, we do have some quality, relaxing time together.

Absence really does make the heart grow fonder.