"La Grippe"
It’s count down time! Just a week until Christmas! Only a few days until Charlie arrives. There are cards to address, presents to wrap, parties to give and parties to go to. There is marketing and dusting and fine-tuning the Christmas décor to attend to. Very Serious Count Down Time. And I am down for the count.
It’s probably a cold – the mother of all colds. I’ve had my pneumonia shot and my flu shot. Even so, I searched the trusty internet for the differences in the symptoms of influenza, pneumonia (viral and otherwise) and colds. Inconclusive.
Nyel is doing the best he can, but playing nurse is a stretch. I guess it’s basically my own fault. I’ve never “taken to my bed” in the twenty-seven plus years we’ve been together. He’s flummoxed. I’m grumpy, whiney, and just plain sick and I’m not sure the end is in sight. Woe! Woe! Woe!
Still, life goes on. Today he is headed out for some party shopping. We worked on a list together. He has his cell phone with him – though I can’t imagine him checking in. (He has made so many disparaging remarks about people in various markets with their phones glued to their ears.) Bless him! Please, may I bite my tongue till it bleeds rather than criticize his choices…
Somewhere among my treasures, I have a tiny booklet made by my grandmother’s best childhood friend, Mary Wallace. Written and illustrated in 1887 when the girls were nine, it is titled La Grippe and tells the story of Little Nell who is in the clutches of La Grippe, or influenza. Little Nell is no doubt Mary, herself, and Post Master Wallace, her school teacher father.
Some of the late patients of La Grippe have started an idea of a post office and Mr. Wallace going to and from school has a hard time managing umbrella, mail, and books
Wanted – a new stock of quinine and handerchiefs. Apply to Mr. W.
Quinine and handkerchiefs? YIKES! I’m sticking with chicken noodle soup and a big box of tissues, myself.
Sydney: sorry to hear you are under the weather. If you need any help on Tues., I am available.