10th May 2012

And the man is still horizontal… apparently I’m one of 12 who succumbed; all of us around 24 hours after attending my sister’s retirement party. Some had not eaten anything at all so I guess it’s a bug somebody inadvertently walked in with, though my sister and husband feel unnecessarily guilty about it. Ah well, but the upside is the Lord is with me through sickness and in health. I had a wonderful time reaching out to him this afternoon. A very special heart to heart, telling him how much I miss Jane. He’s there for me, right here with me; and I want to be there for him! I feel blessed out of my socks, just knowing the Lord’s presence in my life means everything.

Now I’m a guy, right? So about this man flu sickness thing… my head hurts, my throat hurts, I have lousy indigestion and I can barely stand I’m that exhausted. Oh yes I’m starving hungry as well, but my one piece of toast earlier today only made the indigestion worse. Whenever I got sick Jane was always there with me to look after me; wasn’t she? But not once did she ever even listen to one of my complaints, totally without sympathy… we all get sick at some time or other, don’t we?  But she was brilliant at puffing up my pillows, producing soup and all the rest of it. I once spent 4 months totally bedbound with a back injury and she really looked after me marvellously. And she endured horribly toxic chemo herself without a hint of complaint. I remember when we first were married we both had a 3 week bout of the flu; we were basically stranded in bed for most of that time, struggling to survive on soup. Part way through Jane left me alone, ah poor Dave, to walk around a mile to the driving test centre. Of course she passed, first time, before returning to her sick bed. How do women do that? Or am I being sexist?

So then, how do I see myself? Sick, incapacitated or as in my photo relatively healthy and building a suntan exploring the Costa Brava. That was Jane’s recovery choice after her first major operation and cancer treatment. Yes, she spent her time in hospital dreaming that one up. Somehow I will see the good in life; I will keep sight of everything that is worth living for… and that I will pursue. Now I’m even more ready for a holiday myself.

1 Corinthians 10:10 ‘We must not complain’ (GNT)