A lovely woman I work with, Marina, recently informed me one morning that I looked tired. I was. The night before I simply couldn’t sleep. Being a night owl means most mornings instead of just trying to be awake, I like to attempt napping while standing up. This results in me standing in a corner with glazed eyes, trying not to be caught and forced awake from my stolen naps.

Marina’s first language is Spanish and she has a rather thick accent. I find myself many a time just nodding to what she says because I didn’t quite catch everything. This particular morning I heard every word and it confirmed her status as a wonderful person as she tried to suss out the exact reason I was so sleepy this day.

“Why are you so tired?” she wondered. “Were you up all night? because you are in love? You can’t sleep because you were thinking about someone?”

If there is a reason for a person to be awake all night, isn’t that a great one? And how nice for Marina to immediately think of that situation for me. I want to adopt her and make her my extra mom.