In Sickness And In Health
By Patricia Darak
The conventional wisdom with sick people is that the sicker they are, the more isolated they should be.
For instance: While I was experiencing my severe flu, the thing that I needed most was rest. Rest. But, what I ended up with was a slower and dizzier version of my regular schedule. Did I stay in bed, sipping fluids and snuggling into soft bedding?
Umm . . . no. Maybe one or two days (on the weekends) of staying in bed until afternoon, but then I had to get up and make lunch and do chores.
Thank goodness for my husband. He was the one who managed to hold down the noise to a dull roar (no easy feat when our three almost-healthy kids are operating at full-energy capacity).
And, did I get waited on hand-and-foot because any excessive movements caused loss of breath and fatigue?
Umm . . . no. I actually got to sit down for a couple of minutes between twice-daily trips to the kitchen and laundry room.
Again, thank goodness for my husband. He was the one who pacified the restless with his battle cry of, “Not now; Mommy’s resting. Shh!”
There were exceptions, of course. There were a few nights that my husband took the kids to the grocery store just to give me some peace and quiet in the evening. Sure enough, he is such a time-management genius that I had time to settle on the sofa for a movie (from beginning to end, without any interruptions) before they came back. Wonderful, I tell you!
Actually, since I am still a little under the weather, I really can’t say that it’s been all that difficult. Painful symptoms? Definitely. Generally dismal circumstances? Not so much.
Did I mention that I thank goodness for my husband?
And, with that last typed comment, my husband magically appears, closing my laptop and tucking me back under the covers. “Rest, you,” he says as he smiles at me.
I manage to give him a weak smile, “Okay.”
And so, this column ends with a smile and a rapidly-approaching sleepiness.
Zzzzzz . . .
