Week 83: Health, Part 1
Sickness stinks. But it’s also an invitation to care.
Each Sunday, my wife and I cook and eat a meal together — intentionally. Every Friday, I’ll be sharing our experience here in this space. I want to see the growth that will come in our marriage because of this. I hope you enjoy our story. You can find last week’s post here.
We had a fantastic weekend planned. On Friday night we’d be heading down to my Mom’s for an excursion into beautiful southern Indiana on Saturday. Then on Sunday, I had a ticket to go with some friends from church to see the final game of the Chicago Cubs regular season. It was going to be great.
But as Friday night came nearer, we quickly were reminded of a fact of life — sickness doesn’t give a second thought to your plans.
Sarah came down with a horrible cough and an unbearably sore throat. We were at a loss for what to do, but it was clear that we needed to hunker down for the weekend.
We went to a 24-hour care facility and got Sarah some meds. But nothing seemed to be helping. It’s a pretty horrible feeling to see your wife sick and in pain and have no clue about what’s going on. You feel helpless, like there’s nothing you can do. Really the only thing to do is just be there. Make runs to the store for more tissues. That kind of thing.
As the last light of day waned on Saturday, we realized that we needed something for Cooking With Sarah the next day. Sarah said she’d really like a hot drink — tea or something like that. She found a recipe, and it was set. We had a nice relaxing day planned for Sunday. Hopefully, that would be enough to help Sarah get over the sickness. That was the plan.
I woke up to see Sarah sitting up in bed coughing louder than she had all weekend. She couldn’t sleep because of the pain in her throat. We ended up having to take her to a 24-hour facility again. At that point, any thoughts I had of going to the Cubs game that day were out the window. But I would have given all the Cubs tickets in the world for Sarah to just feel better.
The doctors had basically the same things to say this time as the last visit. We were at a loss. For some reason Sarah just wasn’t feeling better. So, we did the only thing we could do. Sarah went home and rested, and I stayed home with her.
Sarah was the hero of the situation. She was the trooper. It was easy to see that she was in a great deal of pain. But (for the most part) she kept her spirits up and just kept trying to rest and drink fluids.
If we’re being honest, none of us like to be sick. But it is precisely the times when we are sick that opportunities arise for us to let others show how they care. Sarah and I grew closer over this weekend. We rested together. We shared pain. We picked each other up.
Even though sickness was in the air at our apartment, I think our marriage displayed a great deal of health this particular weekend. Being together in the good times is one thing. But being together in the sick times? That’s where true growth comes. And growth is a healthy thing.
This week, I cooked for Sarah. More precisely, I mixed together a hot drink and brought it to her on the couch. Cinnamon, honey and lemon juice in hot water — it was easy enough. But Sarah really liked it. And, I must say, I thought it was pretty darn good if I do say so myself!
The next day, Sarah was back at work. I truly think she is a superhero! I’d also like to think it had something to do with the healing powers of my magic elixir. But I know it had far much more to do with Sarah. I was so amazed at how she perservered. Even when she went back to work, she wasn’t 100%. In fact, the very next day, her sickness got worse. But once again, it gave us an opportunity to show each other how much we care.
However, that story will come in part two next week. I look forward to sharing it with you!
