Sick Housed

A kind of downer day yesterday and not only due to the abject humiliation of being pounded into the earth by the ABFA, a.k.a. my favorite daughter in law, in fantasy football.  My wife was down for the count with a serious cold for the entire day which revealed just how much she’s responsible for my daily dose of happiness.  I’m used to coming home and having her usual tidal wave of conversation wash over me regaling me with the mundane yet cherished moments of her day. 

I’ve written before about what a career in the Army does to the old empathy gene.  Being sick or injured in the infantry was always viewed as a sign of weakness and therefore not to be acknowledged or curried.  This always leads to confrontations with my wife’s more reasonable and humane approach to health care.  She’s never understood that pain was just weakness leaving the body (go figure).  I’m trying to do better and be supportive instead of scoffing at frailty; let’s call it a work in progress.

I did pretty well yesterday. I made an unplanned trip to the grocery store to secure some needed sweetener for her tea (baby steps) which I even attempted to make.  The fact that she insisted on making the next cup herself could be seen as either an indictment on my tea making career or that she was simply feeling better. I tried to make her as comfortable as possible and even Buddy pitched in with an extended attempt at conversation which met with mixed results.

By the end of the evening she’d gotten out of bed and joined us in the family room so she could view the final moments of our fantasy football destruction and offer her cogent observations of my failings in player selection (another sign of getting better).  While we were down there she received probably the best medicine of all, a phone conversation with our daughter who’s coming us this weekend along with Wing Man.

We’ll be celebrating her recent birthday and there will be a mini gathering of the clan to mark the day on Saturday.  This will prevent me from going to my college homecoming – something that was pointed out to me by two college buddies this morning.  Since the son and ABFA as well as my sister, all graduates of my alma mater, are coming I believe we can qualify for adjunct celebration status.  I do know adult beverages will be addressed as part of the process which a vital part of any homecoming.