Reflections on Being Sick

WARNING: This post may be a bit graphic for some readers! To the left is a photo to set the scene for you. :) Travis called this "the double ended flu" and you can see we were prepared.

This has been a pretty tough winter with sicknesses for us. The past month was especially bad with a really bad cold for almost 2 weeks, then a flu that got to all of us. Zoe was first on a Wednesday night, then Sophia started on Friday evening. Travis was up with her until about 5 am and slept for about an hour before it hit him. I got up about 45 minutes after he did with the same thing.

Around 8 am I called our neighbors to see if someone could come over to help with the girls as Travis and I were still getting everything out of our systems. Jill came and took care of the girls while Travis and I took turns in our little toilet room. This was an occasion when we really could have used more than one! Catherine came over to relieve Jill, and then Sandy came with the ingredients to make what always sounds so good to me after being sick...chicken noodle soup. Sandy and Catherine helped move the laundry along, which was so helpful since we went through every sheet for Sophia's bed we had, plus one of ours Travis put on there when all of hers were used up. Sandy stayed pretty much all day, and even came back that night when Sophia threw up two more times.

The next day did not include much more coming out of our bodies, but Travis and I still felt awful, especially Travis since he had hardly slept the night before. Jill came over again, as well as Catherine and Sandy, and this time Andrea too.

Being sick is so much more difficult with kids! I mean, it's horrible enough when it was just us (we got it over Christmas two years in a row), but it's even worse when there are little ones who still need to be taken care of. We are so incredibly thankful for our good friends who came over to help us cope. Sandy and Catherine both got sick after being here. Andrea got a bit sick, but Jill was the lone one who survived coming here and not getting it. They sacrificed their health to help us. We are so blessed by the love we received! We were also really thankful it happened on a weekend so people were actually around to help us.

Travis and I were talking during/after this episode that we take our health for granted pretty much every day. Most days we wake up, our bodies are able to get out of bed (even if they may not feel like it), and get going with our day. We can walk, see, talk, drive, make food, get little ones dressed, eat, shop, play, laugh, work, etc. I am not thankful enough that my body works as well as it does. Seeing my grandparents get older shows me that my body will not always work this way. One of the last things my grandpa said to me was, "Don't get old Brooke." Well, that I cannot help! But I can be thankful each day that I have the strength to do the things I need to do.