Friday night Tom and I were laid low by a bug of some kind.

Earlier that night, Tom and I went to Outback with the Shumans and Sandy Shaw.  We had a great time and great food and enjoyed the evening immensely.  One of the great things about being in Ohio is getting to catch up with friends.  We got home late and went to bed.  Shortly after 1 a.m. I woke up and realized that my stomach was upset.  Really upset.  I headed to the bathroom.  About an hour after my first trip to the bathroom, Tom woke up with the same issue.  Then me, then him, then me, then him.  It was a good thing that we didn’t both need the bathroom at the same time because it was in constant use through the night.

By Saturday noon the worst had abated although we were weak and tired.  After one visit to the bathroom I texted our friends, sure that we were suffering from food poisoning.  But none of them had been affected.  I couldn’t blame it on the Blooming Onion.

We were supposed to spend part of Saturday with my parents, so I texted them to say we wouldn’t make it.  Mom offered to bring us chicken soup which set off another round of visits to the bathroom.  We declined.  I managed to spend about an hour upright (relatively – I was in the recliner) before I headed back to bed.  When I got up again around six, the RV was no longer spinning around when I moved.

Tom, in one of the most gallant acts of our marriage, drove to the convenience store to get some 7-Up.  We drank that and felt some better but I couldn’t eat anything until Sunday.  I went back to bed at 9 p.m. and didn’t get up until 8 a.m. on Sunday.  But I was able to eat a little bland food and feel decent, if still tired.

There are a couple of things that were notable about being laid low by a bug.  First, Tom and I hardly ever get sick like that and never at the same time.  Obviously we caught something virulent at the same time but neither of us have been able to figure out when or where.

Second, misery DOES love company.  I hate it when I feel awful and everyone around me is cheerful and happy and feeling fine.  We were able to be miserable and achy together.  Neither of us felt like doing or eating anything.  If we had to be sick, it was good to be sick together.

We are all recovered now.  Monday we felt really good again.  You never feel as good as you do when you get well after being sick.  I bleached all the inside surfaces of the RV so we are fairly confident that whatever we had is gone.  We may have been laid low by a bug but we are glad to be “up and at ’em” again.