I don’t think she realizes I’m here, standing in the doorway of the kitchen, watching her. The only light to be seen is from the overhead lamp on her stove. The tea kettle is on the burner and the water is just starting to simmer. She is sitting with her back to me at her kitchen table. Her long brunette hair pulled back in a curly tussled mess of a pony tail. She’s leaning forward with her elbows on the table. Her head is resting in her right hand and the fingers of her left hand are playing with what looks like a business card. She’s alternating between tapping the card on the table and turning it in her hand.

The house is dead with silence. All I can hear is the tapping of the card. Tap, Tap, Tap and then she turns the card one quarter turn. Tap, Tap, Tap and turn. Tap, Tap, Tap and turn. I wonder how long she’s been sitting there doing that, maybe since left me in her bed 45 minutes ago.

Tap, Tap, Tap, turn. Tap, Tap, Tap, turn. Apparently she does know I‘m here, because as she‘s continuing her pace of tapping and turning she speaks to me. “You couldn’t sleep either or did I wake you when I got up?”

“I thought you went to the bathroom or maybe needed a drink. When you didn’t come back…” Tap, Tap, Tap, turn. “Yeah, I woke up when you got out of bed.”

She sits back slowly, taking both hands along with the card and moves them to her lap. Her head is down. “I’m sorry, I thought I was quiet enough not to wake you.”

I start to move towards her “It’s okay, I…” The piercing whistle of the tea kettle stops me from continuing.

She quickly moves to the stove and takes the kettle off the burner. In her haste she sets the card down on the table. “Would you like some tea? I couldn’t sleep and tea always has a way of relaxing me enough to sleep. I have Earl Grey or…”

“No, I’m fine, thanks though.” I make my way to sit in the chair she just left and look down at the card she previously had in her hand. The printed words on the card cause a lump to come to my throat and leaves a pit in my stomach. Women and Children’s Center of Northwestern Connecticut. Betty Ann Wilson. Chairperson and Co-founder.