Small Strokes Big Oaks

It has been two weeks of uninterrupted sickness at the Sam/Rob household.  (Just to confuse you more, I have now shortened our last names for purposes here.)  This is the first time since we moved in together that both of us have been miserably sick at the same time, and, let me tell you, I now am beginning to understand why wedding vows have traditionally incorporated the whole “in sickness and in health” bit.  It’s really easy to enjoy each other and check in with the status (or the “health” if you’ll excuse a bad pun) of your relationship when you’re both your sprightly selves, happily doing your work during the day and coming home to each other at night to a nice, home-cooked (or at the very least a warm take-out) meal that you share while watching your favorite television programs.

But when you’re sick, it’s very easy to forget about everything else aside from your sickness.

I had maybe the worst flu I’ve ever had ever in my life, and it started last Monday.  That’s Monday, January 10.  I went to work Monday and Tuesday, and missed work Wednesday and Thursday (unheard of for my workaholic self) and went back Friday, which was probably a little bit premature.  Then, I proceeded to sleep through the entire three-day weekend.  And I just now got my voice mostly back, although it still does have that sultry, raspy quality at times.

Tim came down with the same thing last Thursday, and went to the doctor last night complaining of a sinus infection.  He still has his voice, but his headaches make it difficult for him to even sit up and watch television.

We’ve spent the entirety of two weeks caring for each other, but not so much in the spirit of maintaining our marriage and relationship.  We’ve been completely focused on treating our ailments.  And that has consisted more or less of whoever happened to be able to sit upright at any given time was volunteered to make a Walgreens run.  Our sickly appetites may have allowed us to save money on groceries these past few weeks, but we’ve been single-handedly keeping the cold and flu medicine companies in business.  Yesterday was the first day in two weeks that I’ve felt well enough to actually make some food for dinner and the first day in two weeks that either of us has felt well enough to actually eat it.

For two weeks, we haven’t even felt strong enough or well enough to cuddle on the couch and watch a movie.  In fact, last week, when Tim gently laid a hand on my shoulder, I think I may have smacked it and yelled at him not to touch me because my body was so achey I couldn’t stand it.  And, if that’s the case, you can imagine how many actual conversations we’ve had with each other in the past two weeks.

You guessed it.  Zero.

I haven’t even felt like blogging or reading for two weeks.  That’s how mushed my mind was with this flu.  Last night, when we finally sat down for a meal of solid food, I looked at Tim across the table and realized: I miss my husband.  I mean, sure, we’ve been in the same apartment – usually the same room – for hours on end every day for two weeks, but our bodies and minds have been so consumed with sickness that we haven’t shared one single intellectually stimulating conversation.  Heck, at this point, I’d settle for a conversation with him that was anything outside of “How are you feeling?  Not great?  Me either.”

After this ordeal, it’s clearer to me how ailments of the body can affect a relationship.  When you’re not feeling your best, sometimes everything else falls by the wayside.  Thankfully, Tim and I are on the mend, and hopefully we can intellectually reconnect soon, but loving someone in sickness is much different than loving them in health, let me tell you!