A tender moment

Luke has been sick and sleeping fitfully and so the rest of us haven't slept a lot either. He came down with a terrible cough on Monday and it kept him (and me) up most of the night. Last night was a break through night (thank you, Dimetap) and he slept really well from 8:30PM until 3:00 AM when his cough medicine wore off. I sat up with him and tried to get him back to sleep for a few hours and then gave him some more medicine.
Once I gave him his medicine I took him in on the couch and held him on my chest. He snuggled into me and was quiet for a few minutes. I started to drift off when I felt him stir. I looked down to see him, in the moonlight, looking up at me.
Luke: "Mom,"
Me: "What Lukey?"
Luke: "Does this remind you a little of when I was a baby?"
Me: "Yes, sweetheart"
I then felt his little body snuggle in closer and relax completely. I'd like to think it had a little something to do with feeling secure as well as the medicine taking effect.

I sat there, in my very quiet house, holding my three year old sweetie and felt the significance of what I am doing. I could see, in my mind's eye, mothers across all cultures and generations holding and comforting their coughing little ones in the night and I felt privileged to find myself among them.