HEAVEN KNOWS - A Short Story (Partners & Sleep Schedules)

There is one organization which has expanded here in Heaven, over what it was on Earth where it was called "Parents Without Partners".

It's a toss up whether different lifestyles led to increased divorce on Earth, or whether increased divorce led to different lifestyles, but in any case it has proven very difficult to get every couple back together when (and if) they both arrive here---plus the situations in which one or more Earth partners felt they had been released by their pledges being only "until death do we part."

This problem was compounded by the re-married, married couples, and the questions that would have arisen as to who should share who with whom for some or all of eternity.

To solve this dilemma, Parents Without Partners was renamed Parents, Ltd. and presently organizes franchises for local branch operations, some as limited partnerships and others as full partnerships.

This provides the needed order, and proper mix of freedom and responsibility, while keeping the whole thing businesslike and quasi-legal.

Overall in a way coming to Heaven is like entering West Point the military academy, and, since most folks haven't ever had that experience either, perhaps I had better explain.

When I first came, it seemed as if I had lost some freedoms.. For example I was free from the risk of sickness, but that meant I couldn't take a day of sick leave and stay home to watch the quiz shows and "How The World Turns." So, while I was free from sickness, I was no longer free to claim I was sick. (Actually those Earth times I had falsely called in saying "I'm sick [fingers crossed] and won't be at work today" were the subject of a long Heavenly counseling session entitled "Prevarication Ends Here.")

I am free from hunger, and, of course, didn't really crave a chance to be hungry. So, that freedom wasn't missed at all. Overeating is considered a Heavenly sin with a certain degree of charitable reproach from one's current associates, and I am no longer free to gorge myself either---even for the weekly Thanksgiving dinners.

We had a situation, a few hundred Earth years before I arrived, when the Heavenly Host suggested that we should all be allowed to be tired just as we often had been on Earth. That led to some spirited debates (all in good spirit, of course) with the two sides "pro-tired" and "pro-full of pep" giving their best media blitz to their points of view.

For the time being at least, a compromise experiment is underway which lets us be free to be tired every day, but only at our individual bedtimes.

This seems to be working well in some of the Parents, Ltd. branches and poorly in others. I don't know the reasons why, because in Heaven our private lives are our own business and nobody would ever think of prying.

But, in my own case I think it's been overdone. It's spoiled any thought of bedtime sports, affection, etc. It means I'm just too tired at that time of the day---but at least it's not just an excuse!

(c) 2011 Demas W. Jasper All rights reserved.

Note: This is just one in a series of "Heaven Knows" short stories you can enjoy here on HubPages. Here is a link you can click to go to another in the series:.