Skip to main content

I'm Sick

I have strep throat for the first and hopefully the last time in my life. I feel awful, look awful and am acting pretty awful from what my Rand tells me. I fear he has the same condition, so we made him an appointment in the morning to get his throat checked out. Not fun times for us in this hectic season of our lives.

As I was camping out in my chair tonight with blankets, throat lozenges, diet root beer, phone, remote and Kleenex my mind went back to being at home while growing up and being sick.
It was the best time! Ha. Really though. Mama & Daddy were the poster children for mercy. I loved when I got sick...it meant lots of pampering! See, mercy wasn't a gift they possessed on an everyday basis, they saved it for sick days. It was always a treat to get sick, you see.

Daddy would bring me comic books, candy (if it was not a stomach related illness, of course), coloring books, magazines and who knows what else, in an Osco sack usually (the good ole days...I miss Osco on North O Street in the Fort). I must admit that this showing of mercy went on through my college mono spell. Lots of Osco sacks met my bedside. Now Daddy lives near me (of course only for a few more weeks because I am Arkansas bound) and when I had my wisdom teeth removed a couple of years ago he was the milkshake man. I am either a princess or he is full of mercy on sick days. Maybe it's both.

Mama is my favorite nurse. She always made sure I was comfortable and gave me 100% of her attention, whether she felt like it or not (she still does, even 5 hours away). I had pneumonia when I was 5 and I still remember that week of sickness in the back rooms of my mind and I picture her in her blue robe holding me while we watched Seasame Street. That is so cool! Anyway, I got Laryngitis my freshman year of college (At the famous WCC) and I was most sick! I left basketball practice to go to the walk-in clinic at the mall (the old one by Dillard's for all you Central Mall historians). I called Mama from a payphone outside the clinic (before the cellphone frenzy) and she was most angry I was sitting in a waiting room with hacking babies and had not been seen. She was off work and in that office demanding I be seen before I had even had a chance to get comfy in my seat again. I remember her putting me in her car and making the nurse come out to the parking lot to get me. Crack me up!
She was this same type of nurse when I got mono my junior year of college and had to come home on bed rest for 3 weeks. Mama drove to Conway and picked me up at the clinic on campus in a cold rain storm and took me straight to the Fort for reevaluation. She held my head and body up in the ER that week while I puked in a public bathroom. I will forever have that vision in my head of her screaming "Don't lay on that floor. These people in here have all kinds of bad diseases!" (So not funny then, but it is now) She held my hand for all my blood work and wiped every tear those few weeks. She made sure I had crafts to do each week of my mono spell. Michael's made a killing off of her and I made some awesome Christmas ornaments that fall! She also checked on me all day while she worked all day to help take care of my sick and broke self! There are so many occasions I can remember her taking on mercy for me when she didn't feel like it, but she always did it with a smile in her heart. I guess that is what all Mama's do, maybe. Anyway, my Mama was always my protector and defender when I got sick. I miss that selflessness.

This is the most ill I have been in a long, long time and I wish I had a back rub from Mama and a comic book from Daddy (I don't even like comic books, but when I am sick I always want one!) Now, my Rand is a good nurse in his on way. He is not going to go hunt down an Osco to bring me a sack of goodies, nor is he gonna get vocal in the doctor's office for me (can you imagine?!). Yet, he makes sure I take my medicine correctly, have the necessary essentials to get well and he will kiss my forehead when I look pitiful. That is his way of showing mercy and I appreciate his interpretation of the gift.

I do still miss my back rub and my sack of goodies! ha.


Abby

Comments

Anonymous said…
Thank you for all the kind words. It is amazing how your memory works. Some of that I remember, but some I don't. Like taking you to the car and making the nurse come get us. that is too funny. but i do remember the mono and getting you in conway. that was a bad, sad time. get well soon. i love you and wish i could take care of you again.
mama
Anonymous said…
You were and are so spoiled but I love you anyway. Wish I could be there to take care of you just like yo mama. Feel better soon.
Love ya
Diana

Popular posts from this blog

A Blind Date & Leaving Comments

8 years ago today I met this sweet man in the picture above. We met on a blind date in the Bluff City (aka- Memfrica). He and I were simply going out to shut up his stepmother and my sister, who had decided that we were meant to be together from one simple fridge photo and a dog named Abby. Little did we know they would be able to pat themselves on the back for the rest of their lives . I am so glad we both agreed to go out for that one date on New Years Eve 2001 because I have had him in my life everyday since that crazy night at my cousin Hollye's back door when he arrived to pick me up to find a baby on my hip that he thought was mine. I remember those beautiful blue eyes and how they about popped out of his head as he stood at the door wondering why no one had mentioned my child. That baby on my hip was Claire. She was 1 then and had just gone number 2 in her diaper right before he rang the bell. She had Styrofoam all over her and me from playing in Christmas boxes. Needless t

All Aboard The Birthday Polar Express

  Can you believe Henry Patton will be 4 years old tomorrow?! Neither can we. We celebrated his birthday last weekend with his first all boy party, polar express style. I had so much fun preparing for it, as you can probably tell! My mother who is never at a loss for words said it looked like Polar Express threw up in my house. She was SO right and we loved it! We had a breakfast pajama party with 7 three and four year old boys. It was such a fun time.   I had his pajamas monogrammed with a train and his name. He loved them and I liked how they sort of looked like the ones on the movie. Henry loved all the bells I had everywhere. There is no doubt we believe at this house. We had the jingle loud and proud!   I had his invitation made from a shop on Etsy and I was very pleased with them. One of his little friends came to the door ready for me to punch his ticket. It was so cute. I ran to get a hole punch and punched it for him. Every good party has to have go

Pedicure Pledge

Just a friendly reminder, it's that time of the year again. Please raise your big toes and repeat after me: As a member of the Sandal Sisterhood, I pledge to follow The Rules when I wear sandals and other open-toe shoes: I promise to always wear sandals that fit. My toes will not hang over and touch the ground, nor will my heels spill over the backs. And the sides and tops of my feet will not pudge out between the straps. I will go polish-free or vow to keep the polish fresh, intact and chip-free. I will not cheat and just touch up my big toe. I will sand down any mounds of skin before they turn hard and yellow. I will shave the hairs off my big toe. I won't wear pantyhose even if my misinformed girlfriend, coworker, mother, sister tells me the toe seam really will stay under my toes if I tuck it there. If a strap breaks, I won't duct-tape, pin, glue or tuck it back in to place hoping it will stay put. I will get my shoe fixed or toss it. No matter how much it hurts. I will