I’ve been sick this week. It started with a sore throat on Friday morning, kept me in bed all weekend, and reached its head-stuffing, nose-dripping, lung-hacking climax on Monday night. Now I’m serenading my cubemates with the trumpet-like sounds of occasional nose blowing, but the worst is clearly behind me.
I admit, I was feeling pretty sorry for myself the past few days. My wife and my friends went apple picking on Saturday, enjoyed an engagement brunch on Sunday and welcomed a buddy back to town after a long absence with a Sunday-night pasta dinner at a favorite neighborhood haunt. I, on the other hand, stayed in bed, alone, sniffling and coughing and trying to find anything to watch on daytime TV other than news of the government shutdown. On Tuesday, a colleague offered tickets to go see one of my favorite bands after work… if only my head wasn’t already pounding like a drum.
As miserable as I felt, however, there were times when I didn’t feel so alone. After my wife kissed me goodbye to drive the crew to the apple orchard, I turned on the TV to find the movie Contagion playing on HBO. I admit, it made me laugh, the fictional tale of a serious outbreak reminding me that, hey, I could have it far worse. Sunday night, the finale of Breaking Bad was permeated with coughing fits from the main character (who’s dying of lung cancer), which happened to coincide exactly with moments of my own uncontrollable hacking. Checking my email on Monday, the first thing to pop up was an impeccably timed email from HR about our company’s plan for administering flu vaccines to employees.
These little moments didn’t make my cold go away. But they did bring a smile to my face, put things in perspective. It was only a cold. I’d be back on my feet soon enough.
Now of course, my wife is sick. She’s not happy with me at all. I couldn’t keep my germs to myself. I’m hoping she’ll find some unexpected moments that cheer her up on her road to recovery… but meanwhile, I think I’ll bring her home some chicken soup.
Stay healthy, readers! And keep on sending your stories!
