EVERYWHERE I GO!

It seems everywhere I go these past few weeks, the plague has struck.

Starting at the graduation ceremony for #2 Son, Mike, with this little fellow in front of me, coughing all over the place, it spread to #2 Son, then I got it. Right now, it is the annoyance of the year, starting out as a little phlegm that that got lodged in my throat to it being an infection that keeps me up all night with the coughing. Going to the agency I volunteer at, people has the same thing, a cold with a cough.

To make matters even worse, TLW (The Little Woman) has it and her symptoms are in her ears and throat, which is the worst.

Mom had a cure for the common cold when we got one during the school years. “Take two aspirin, and go to school, you’ll be fine!” It was the fact that she had enough colds all her life while raising her brats, and she never complained. A cold? A headache? Dinner was always on the table in time for Dad when he came home. Pine scent reigned in our apartment as she cleaned, and now that I look back, I wonder if she ever felt that the cleaning stuff would make her feel better, if not physically, emotionally?

When dear old Dad had a cold, things were different. Although he NEVER missed a day of work in his life, two things happened: 1) he died anyway and 2) On weekends it was the pits!

“Lena, get me some aspirin, I got a headache”, “Lena, where is the Vicks, I have the worst cold of my life!” More often than not, he was teetering on the edge of death, eyes closed as he lay on the bed or couch. This was on a Saturday morning, the pain and discomfort etched on his face, his arm slung over his eyes. Sunday, he took a turn for the worst! But he was brave, and somehow made it through dinner, a nice bowl of macaroni, meatballs, sausages and braciole, both beef, and pork, then gallantly finishing off with a salad, a large salad, while being lubricated with homemade wine! Damned, I wish I had his fortitude.

We lived near our church, Our Lady of Lourdes, which you may know was named for the miracle of Lourdes and the Virgin appearance. Well that miracle rubbed off when Monday morning came around, and Dad was fit to go to work, he was the two-day wonder of healing. If he had a three-day weekend, he would have accommodated that too.

Mom, of course, could claim Dad was a baby. Mom claimed Dad was a baby!

 When I got a cold, I never set longevity records for work. The longer I was out, the better, why give it to everyone else and have them hate you on the job? What I do to this day is go off to my bedroom and stay there until I feel good enough to go back to near normal. This, of course, draws little criticism since it prevents my family with coming down with it too.