Me: You know when I was talking to you just now?
Nell: Yes.
Me: I was telling you about Niagara Falls and how amazing it was.
Nell: Yes, I remember. You were going into a lot of detail.
Me: You closed your eyes and fell asleep.
Nell: I did not.
Me: You did, Nell. I’m sure of it.
Nell: I might have rested my eyes for a moment.
Me: Have I been talking a bit too much since I came home?
Nell: Why do you think that?
Me: Dave fell asleep, too.
Nell: Oh, I see.
Me: Kev went for a lie down.
Nell: Oh dear.
Me: Harriet stayed awake.
Nell: There you are.
Me: But she’s a trained spy,
Nell: True.
Me: I think I might need to do a little more listening and a little less talking.
Nell: We understand you have a lot to tell us.
Me: Yes, I do. Almost three weeks of things.
Nell: But nobody is going anywhere so you have plenty of time.
Me: Yes, I do.
Nell: And we love listening to you.
Me: Do you really?
Nell: Of course. Listening to you telling your stories was one of the things we missed most when you were away.
Me: That’s good to hear.
Nell: We knew you would be telling them to the grandchildren.
Me: I was, and they were often about you all.
Nell: We thought they would be.
Me: You were always on my mind.
Nell: As I said before, the sound of your voice is something we love. It calms us down.
Me: I didn’t realise. I’m glad.
Nell: So if we close our eyes for a moment when you’re talking it just means we are safe and relaxed.
Me: You were snoring.
Nell: Very relaxed.
Me: Yes. Sorry.
