Thursday, January 12, 2006

The Flu

The last few days have crawled by in a haze of Kleenex, coughing, body aches, and fatigue.  When you’ve got the flu, time is warped.  It either goes by slowly, when you aren’t able to rest, or it fast forwards by when you DO rest, and sleep during the day.  You wake up and squint at the clock…is it really already 4:00pm?  It feels like it should be the next morning.  Or the day before.  Or something.

I’m SO looking forward to feeling normal again.  Today I kept a 9:00am appointment, but by the time I got home around noon, I was exhausted.  What did our ancestors do when they had the flu?  I’m sure there were times my grandmother and great-grandmother did not feel well, but yet, they kept on going.  There were no sick days, no vacation days, no leave time, no “calling in sick”, no doctor’s offices to call, no Nyquil, no Advil.  They continued to fix meals and wash clothes.  They cared for children, tended gardens, milked cows, cleaned chicken houses and barns, and just kept going.  I am inspired by these hardworking women.  As I sneeze and reach for another Kleenex, (a Puffs PLUS, no less), I wonder if I could have made it.  Am I made of the same stuff as these prairie women?  I don’t think so…  

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