I'm one of those guys who prides himself on rarely if ever getting sick, at least to the point that it has any kind of effect on my daily life. But I'll be darned if the latest strain of the flu didn't get me yesterday afternoon. And man, is it nasty! I'm sure a lot of you out there can relate.
I had a terrible night last night. The Tylenol cough and could medicine I took barely made a dent, and I had some of the weirdest dreams known to humankind. One dream, which lasted about six hours, involved hundreds of people lining up with a "flu form" and asking me to sign it. When I did, they instantly were cured. But no one would bring me a flu form. In another hourslong dream, hundreds of people brought me balloons and flowers, to the point that my room filled up so much that I could barely breathe.
I slept from 8 p.m. to 9:30 a.m. on my wonderful Tempur-Pedic mattress (it's the only thing that made the experience even halfway bearable), then got up and staggered around the rest of the day, though I did manage to pick up my three youngest daughters from school.
I'm hearing that this thing goes on for a while? Sigh.
And my wife and youngest daughter, who don't have it yet, are headed to Wash. D.C. for a big gymnastics meet this coming Thursday. Could the timing be any worse?
The whole thing makes my head hurt. And I'm one of those guys who prides himself on never having headaches.
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About Me
- Jim Melvin
- Clemson, SC, United States
- I was born in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., but grew up in St. Petersburg, Fla. I graduated from the University of South Florida (Tampa) in 1979 with a B.A. in Journalism. I now live in South Carolina near the Blue Ridge Mountains, a pleasant setting for writing, to say the least. I was an award-winning journalist at the St. Petersburg Times for twenty-five years and I currently work at the Charlotte Observer. I am married with five daughters.
The author
Jim Melvin, a veteran journalist, debuts as novelist.
2 comments:
You poor thing. Julyan had the flu two weeks ago and I had forgotten what an extremely high temp can do to a person.
I hope you get better soon. And maybe it's a good thing the Mrs. and the little one are going to be gone for a bit...they won't catch it. And besides you can stay in bed all day. Go get back in bed!!
Yeah, they've gone to Washington and both are still healthy, knock on wood. It's a big gymnastics meet for Lia. I haven't gotten a lot of sleep through all this. That part, at least, has been cool.
So, you never got it? Lucky you!
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