I called to cancel, consoling myself with the thought that I could probably pull myself together to get in to work by my two o’clock shift. In preparation I went back to sleep, waking up at noon with a sack of cement sitting on each eyelid. I wasn’t going to work. My boss said she hope I’d feel better, and not to worry about staying home.
They were very kind words, but how could I not worry about staying home? I’m an adult, I have adult responsibilities! This isn’t like skipping class in college, when a pleading trip to the professor’s office would surely get the day deemed as an “excused absence.” In my mind, I saw a towering pile of papers marked “Tuesday,” being picked up and dropped onto a similarly gigantic heap of work marked “Wednesday.” And Thursday wasn’t looking much better.
But staying home really was the right thing to do. I didn’t want to get any of my co-workers sick, and I certainly didn’t want to prolong my illness. So I did the only thing I could do: I went back to sleep. I awoke around three o’clock when my friend called. He asked if I needed anything. “Yeah, I need something. I need to feel better.”
Although I desperately craved a soothing Coca-Cola, I didn’t ask for it. He stopped by anyway, just to see how I was doing. Shortly thereafter another friend called to ask if he could do anything for me. “Anything you need; just let me know.”
Mom and Dad don’t live nearby anymore, but it was nice to have other loved ones stand in for them. Celia called from work to see if there was anything she could do for me, and then came home from work, and although I was feeling marginally better, still cooed over me, her only desire to make me feel better.
I went to sleep early, and woke up in the morning feeling much better. Not perfect, but much better. I went in to work and all my co-workers said they were glad to see me feeling better and back at work. I was glad to be back; I was glad to be feeling better. But it was also really nice to be reminded that my friends care so much about me. I guess we all need to get sick every once in a while, even if only for that reminder.
Photo courtesy of Sanja Gjenero
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