Another Visit to The Pharmacie

This is the one that puts me gently to sleep.

No doubt I've mentioned this before, perhaps on several occasions, but I must bring up the subject again in order to tell you something riveting after I re-tell you that I'm a worrier.

Before Rizzoli bought my book proposal, that gave me lots of things to worry about. Now that they've bought it and have been exceptionally supportive, I'm worried about writing it. Sometimes I worry about what I will wear to certain interviews -- you know, light worrying, but still. I have a vast and impressive roster of things that can keep me awake at night. Some of my preoccupations are "what ifs" which is truly a waste of time and energy.

As my daughter says, I worry when I don't have something to worry about because I might forget something really important that I should be worrying about. She's not entirely wrong.

The problem with my "malady" is that it keeps me awake at night. More to the point, I can't fall asleep because my head is spinning with dilemmas -- self-inflicted or not. This of course ruins the next day and becomes an infernal circle of hell. (Don't ever let anyone tell you that I exaggerate.)

But, no more. I have new "meds."

This one promotes an uninterrupted night's sleep which is usually not my problem. Once I'm  asleep; I'm asleep.

Christine, my pharmacist friend, led me to relief. This is how it happened:

Christine: Letitia, I have found the answer to all your problems.

Moi: All my problems? Why didn't you tell me this years ago?

C: No, not all your problems, but your sleep problems.

M: I don't want any meds. I can't afford to lose anymore of my memory or anesthetize what's left of my brain cells.

C: There you go again. You know I would never suggest real medicine. These pills are 100 percent natural.

M: You mean plants and stuff?

C: Exactly. And, I'd like to test them on you. Then I can tell other clients how well they work.

M: What if they don't work?

C: In that case I won't say anything.

M: OK, I'm willing to try anything.

C: Here, they're a cadeau.

M: Oh, no, I can't.

C: Yes you can. I'm considering you a test subject.

M: OK, merci mille fois.

Well, they work. One is to help me fall asleep within the half hour after taking it; the other guarantees a full night's sleep.

Caveat: If for one reason or another I've fussed myself into a frenzy, they do not work but on a normal night with only slight agitation, they work like a dream -- literally. As Christine says, "you have to cooperate with them."