The weekend before Thanksgiving, my dad and I both got a cold.  We had been together frequently the week before, so we obviously caught it from the same person.  The cold came on me suddenly and violently.  It was so sudden I felt like I was having some kind of allergic reaction.  One minute I was fine, the next my head was congested, I was sneezing and coughing, and struggling to breathe.  Dad’s cold started off bad and stayed bad.

Monday, the week of Thanksgiving, Dad fell, probably due to the congestion with this cold.  He hit his head on a brick corner at church and had to have 10 staples in his head.  We called it his Frankenstein scar.  Both of our colds seemed better on Thursday, so we joined the family at my sister’s for Thanksgiving.  We joked about having a quarantine table instead of a kids’ table.

But Dad’s cold was just settling in.  When we saw him on the following Sunday, he was having trouble sleeping during the night so he was falling asleep at other times.  My cold was also lingering in an annoying way.  I have trouble sleeping when my nose is stuffed up.  I snore when I have to breathe through my mouth, and I snore so rarely that it wakes me up immediately.

Monday Mom started to get sick too, and my cold took a turn for the worse.  Mom had a fever, which she has had a hard time shaking.  Dad says she has the flu.  Tom and I enjoyed a visit with some friends on Tuesday, but by the end of Tuesday my voice was gone.  Wednesday I had a fever and felt much worse, so I saw the doctor who diagnosed bronchitis.  I started antibiotics and got a great cough suppressant that has been really helpful.  Without the cough suppressant I’m sure I wouldn’t be getting any sleep.

I haven’t seen Mom and Dad all week as we are all trying to get healthy before we see each other again.  Plus, when you are coughing constantly or have a fever, you don’t feel like seeing anyone or doing anything.  I had all these plans for the week. . . . .

But I am feeling some better and hope to actually be well again this next week.  I’m sure Mom and Dad are hoping the same thing.  Tom, through it all, has remained helpful and healthy – for which I am very thankful.  He is also very good at understanding my “sign language” since I am now going on a week of not being able to talk.

Being sick makes me thankful for all the times I am healthy.  And you never feel as good as when you finally feel better after being sick.  I am looking forward to that.  I am also looking forward to seeing my parents again!