Pulling an all nighter

I took the red eye back from LAX yesterday. In all my years of travel, I've never taken the red eye. I can't sleep on a plane, so I try to avoid the overnight flight time. I was in a major haze when I got home this morning. I took a short two hour nap, but had some work to do at 10am. It's probably a good thing that I didn't sleep the day away, but I am quickly fading as the day wears on.

Staying up all night is not something I've never done. There's the college "all nighter" that I engaged in a few times. I never liked doing that because it made me vulnerable on the test anyway. I had to do it a couple of times to write papers, though. Like when I went to Wisconsin for a Field Training Exercise when I was in ROTC. I was up most of the weekend, but had a Shakespeare paper due on a Monday. I have no idea how I got through it (or how I got an "A" on the paper), but I did. The human body can be so resilient, sometimes.

When I was a Resident Assistant, I stayed up all night with one of my residents, Aaron. Aaron was also my friend, but on this particular night, I was pulling double duty. Aaron was a unique kid. He played bass guitar in a band, once called "Strumpet," he kept his hair long, and his body scrawny. Aaron wasn't much of a drinker at first, but when he did get drunk, he was a but high maintenance. He was high strung in everyday life too. Aaron came home from the bar, and was really out of control. He insisted that someone slipped something in one of his beers. He was jumping up and down off the couches in the common area, he was running up and down the hallways, he was extremely argumentative. I think he even insisted he was going to die. Somehow, we got him to agree to calling the paramedics. It was our last resort. We just wanted a medical professional to check him out. They came, took his vitals, and suggested a trip to the hospital. Aaron refused. The only thing they could do at that point was suggest he sleep it off, which he did. A group of us stayed up with him until the sun came up. I had another ROTC thing to do that day, so I go dressed in my BDU's (camouflage), and walked across the street to have breakfast. I may have missed some sleep that day, but I think Aaron appreciated the gesture.

I've stayed up all night with and for other people too. When Cyndi had emergency eye surgery in 1997, I stayed up with her in the hospital. When my grandmother was rushed to the hospital in the early 90's, we all stayed up for what seemed like weeks. When my grandfather was dying, I stayed with him all night, watching him take his last breath. Same thing with my father.

They say that whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Me, strong like bull.