He Made It.
The whole world has been sick. It started in the fall, ran straight through the winter, and has continued into spring.
There wasn’t a lot of snow in our area, but the emergency rooms, clinics, and doctors’ offices were filled with people. Most people had a long-lasting virus that simply wouldn’t go away, even though they rested and did their best to stay home.
I was sick for weeks. I missed the entire Christmas holiday, all the way through New Year’s Eve – and still canceled work during the first two weeks of January. I felt like I would never recover. Two months after the onset, I realized I hadn’t coughed that day – for the first time in 60 days.
A month later, Bill had a fever and slept for days. Bill is the kind of person who doesn’t sit down unless it’s time to go to bed, so watching him sleep for three or four days was daunting. He still has a residual cough.
Shane and Dylan were both sick around Thanksgiving. Shane got one thing, then Dylan got another thing. Then Dylan got what Shane had, and Shane got what Dylan had.
For three months, someone was on the couch with a juice cup nearby.
But when play practice started, the boys were ready to go… until Shane got sick during the last week of play practice. His fever lasted for four days. It had barely broken when he climbed back up onto that stage, just in time for the show.
No one had pneumonia. No one had bronchitis. We all just had a flu with a fever and a cough that wouldn’t go away.
But Dylan made it through the play without getting sick. He survived weeks of rehearsal with only a small cold. He did an awesome job in all four performances, singing 11 songs and delivering a gazillion lines. He stood and smiled and shone.
Then he got to the end of the quarter – this week – and worked on all the things he could do to “catch up.” He talked to teachers, worked diligently on projects online, worked through lunches, finished tests after school, and did his 1.5-hour homework shifts every night. The quarter ends tomorrow, and he’s done a decent job.
He made it. Without getting sick, he survived the whole quarter, never missed a rehearsal, and sang like a star during all four spring musical performances.
Today, Dylan woke up with a fever.