The Common Cold

So my last post was about failing at life as an adult, and some people took that to mean I was sad or upset with how life was going for me, which, although somewhat true, it was more frustration about the things piling up against me.  Well things got better for a bit… or at least evened out, but then I came down with a pretty bad cold.

It started with a cough that just kept getting worse and made it hard to breathe and then by Saturday turned into a full blown (literally) cold. Headache, runny nose, coughing, sneezing, the works.  There were cough-drop wrappers and tissues everywhere and the whole apartment smelled of Vick’s.  I took Monday off and attempted to work on Tuesday, but left early after blowing my nose between every customer.

Being sick as an adult can be tricky (for me at least) because it’s hard to decide whether or not to go to work.  At my job, if I don’t show up, someone has to pick up the slack.  On Monday someone had to go in half and hour early to open for me.  Luckily most of my coworkers would rather pick up my slack then have me get them sick, but for me it’s really hard to determine the extent of my sickness and I try to do whatever I can to not have to make people go out of their way for me.  I started getting better by Tuesday night and took some medicine and was back to it by Wednesday.  By thursday I was feeling much better.

Something else I realized during my brief illness: nothing makes you miss home more than being sick.  I made myself soup and tea and had orange juice and stayed in bed, but there is nothing as comforting as your mom handing you that soup or bringing you a new box of tissues when you run out.

I think everyone misses their mom when they’re sick.  Each mom has their own cure to make you feel a little bit better, and it’s never the same when you do it on your own.  My mom makes Hot Lemonade for me when I’m sick.  I know. You think it’s gross.  Pretty much everyone I’ve ever told about this thinks it’s the most disgusting sounding thing in the world.  Who doesn’t love a nice cold glass of lemonade on a hot summer’s day.  But heat it up for that sore throat?  NO WAY!

Well, my mom likes a lot of crazy concoctions.  She dips cheese-itz in cottage cheese and potato chips in pickle juice.  And I guess Hot Lemonade was just something she discovered on the way.  But if you remember this the next time you get a sore throat, I dare you to try mixing some lemon juice with steaming hot water and some sugar.  Basically, just drop the tea bag.  It’s delicious.  And the way the citrus tickles the back of your throat as the heat soothes it at the same time can cure that cough like nothing else.

I made myself some and it helped a bit, but it wasn’t the same as when my mom made it.  And it wasn’t the same without her there.  I video chatted with her a few times and she pushed me to snort some Flonase, and sure enough, after I started using that—I could breathe again!  Mom to the rescue!  All better now and I get to see my mom in a few days! Maybe we’ll share a nice steaming mug of Hot Lemonade!