Get Well Soon

A friend on Facebook left a post recently that she was sick and in the doldrums. The message was very brief but effectively conveyed the misery of having your life put on hold while a viral convention chooses you for its host facility.  Best example is just that really rotten cold-- that I can't breathe, no energy, just want a time out until this thing is over, seasonal cold. (Crap! Are we out of Kleenex??)

I hate getting sick. I think I get that from my mother. Mom took illness as a sign of weakness, a bad behavior, a personal assault to be fiercely opposed and hidden from public view.  Even so, I knew what this woman was talking about and I sent her my sympathy.  I also suggested she take comfort in the fact she would be getting better.

When I was very young my Mom's near and dear sister was diagnosed with cancer. I know it involved her liver because I remember seeing her at our house at her final Thanksgiving. She was a shade of yellow no single digit kid could ever understand. Shortly after that visit I sent her a get well card which I had made by hand. My mother took the card to my aunt, but first, after reading it, explained to me that her sister would not be getting well. She explained that, sometimes, people don't get well. I remember that like yesterday and am reminded of it rather frequently working where I do.

I feel like I understand sudden events, accidents and injury. But I can't imagine terminal illness. I can't imagine what it's like when a person finally gets to the point where they realize they will not win the battle.

Perhaps such thoughts can't really make having a dastardly cold or flu bug any better. Then again, sometimes it helps to have a little perspective on things and understand the scale of one's own plight. Sometimes we're luckier than we may know.

Here's wishing you good health and speedy recoveries.