Coming out from the haze of being ill.. and the past few days run together and have a surreal quality to them.
Did I really say: "titty bars" in front of my Girl Scout co-leaders? (It's a long story.) Did I really just sit there quietly and not say anything remotely snarky or sassy when the doctor glibbly announced: "Well hello there. You are the proud owner of a very strep throat!"?
Did I really see that dog running the halls of my girls' elementary school?
I think being good and sick for a short while has some tangible benefits. For one, your appetite is diminished perhaps - and if you don't live on Christmas Cookies alone for the 3 or 4 days you're home sick - you might even lose weight.
Being home sick is good for reminding us that there is life outside of work. That the day to day stuff can and will manage to go on without you (except you still must drag your sick and unshowered self off to drop the kids off at school and daycare - and there are still lunches to pack and diapers to change).
Perhaps most of all, being sick for a while is good for reminding us to be grateful for our otherwise good health the rest of the time.
Although I was stuck in bed for a few days - I won't whine a bit. I just feel like reflecting on how fortunate or blessed I truly am.
I'm fortunate to have sick days at work I can take, that I don't get fired for missing work. Truly blessed that I have insurance to go to the doctor and can afford to pay for some medicine that'll make me feel better in a few days.
I know a wonderful young father who is exactly my age who has become wheelchair bound from ALS. I know he wishes he could take some penicillin and feel better in a few days.
And, as I waited in the doctors office an elderly woman who I imagine is impaired from stroke was left, with no one to speak for her, by the MediVan driver.
When the nurse called her name she meekly raised her hand.
The nurse loudly asked her over and over "Who else is with you? Myrtle, where is your blah blah blah.?" I could see her (Myrtle) visibly recoiling from this woman who was shouting down at her. She wasn't hard of hearing (though aged) - she tried very hard to answer the questions but just couldn't speak loudly or clearly enough to make herself heard by the nurse.
I did something I don't normally do - I spoke up and intervened. Because the nurse was literally standing close enough to me to touch, I gently touched the back of her arm and said: "The medi-van driver left her just now and said he would return for her in 15 minutes. He had another rider to drop off. Then he'll be waiting just outside. She doesn't have her son or care worker with her today." This is what I'd overheard from her conversation with the MediVan driver, who'd handed her (no joke) a "Your Pregnancy" magazine to read as she waited to be called.
I can tell what an upbeat woman (despite the adversity of old age) Myrtle must be - because she took the pregnancy magazine and smiled a wry grin and laughed to herself.. and then paged through it for a while.
The nurse thanked me, Myrtle's eyes smiled at me, and my daughter who was huddled in my lap smiled shyly back at Myrtle. That was a moment of grace for each of us.
So - between the hustle and the bustle of trying to get everything done this holiday season I'm getting to my usual December state of mind:
Reviewing the year that is coming to an end. Counting my blessings. And feeling grateful - very, very, grateful indeed.
