“Laugh at yourself, but don’t ever aim your doubt at yourself.” – Alan Alda
“Sometimes I lie awake at night and ask, ‘Why me?’ Then a voice answers,’Nothing personal, your name just happened to come up.’ “– Charlie Brown
Chip spent the night on the window seat in a sleeping bag and he’s going to be there again tonight. “It will make Pearl feel better,” he said. She can’t climb the stairs to our room anymore ( she is 12) and lately has been whining and confused at night.
A couple of days before Christmas I woke up to loud banging on a downstairs door.
Was JJ locked out? Why would she be knocking at 2 am? (She stayed in the little house across the yard with her family.) Why would the door be locked? Does anyone even have a key? Oh God– I hope everything is okay.
Turns out Pearl was scratching on the bathroom door. I don’t know why, maybe she thought it was our bedroom door. I put on a coat and boots and took her out into the slush, just in case she had to go. She looked at me, and I looked at her, and then she walked back onto the porch. She settled herself on the bathroom floor with a groan and fell asleep.
Which is all my way to really bury the lede. I have Covid. I took a test because my sister suggested it after I told her I haven’t felt this bad since I had Covid.
So that’s also why Chip slept downstairs. He is still healthy and we aim to keep him that way.On Christmas Day, I told Chip that after everyone leaves I’m going to bed for 24 hours and pretend that I am sick. It wasn’t make believe at all. I couldn’t go to Tom and Jane’s Boxing Day party. No Mai Tais and no Stouffer’s lasagna for me. Be careful what you wish for.
I feel much better, actually. But now that I have this diagnosis I’m grumpy. “It’s not personal,” Chip says. (‘Then why don’t you have Covid?’ Is not a thought I will wail. That will not help.)
My daughters assure me that the new Covid is just a cold with a stressor for a name.
Relax, they say, enjoy the down time.
And now I’m laughing. (Which everyone knows is the best medicine.)
