The Days We Just Get By

Last night, Jason and Bereket and I had Friday night date night at Newt's, our favorite local burger joint. We had nachos and chicken fingers and lots of buttery popcorn.  It felt so, so good to be out on the town with my two special people. Largely, because it was the first time I'd felt well enough to be doing something fun in a while.

The day after Halloween, I felt a sore throat coming on.  For the next 11 days, I was hit by something stronger than me. It was one of those awful colds that sucks all the life and light out of you, and fills you instead with exhaustion, cough attacks and other icky un-mentionable things.

The other day as I was leaving for work at 4 a.m., I glanced at how we had left our kitchen table the night before.

Three computers were at rest in front of empty chairs, waiting for their masters to return.  I thought of Jason in front of his, trying to fix mistakes that had been made in the visa process for his upcoming business trip to India. I pictured myself sitting in front of mine with a sore throat, feeling too sick and tired to make any real conversation.  And Bereket, just following our lead, took out her computer and pulled up a chair next to us and began typing away.  In a perfect world, we would not be spending our evening together in front of three different computer screens. But work and sickness are a part of life and sometimes you do what you have to do.

I feel like such an inadequate mom when I am sick, especially when I can't talk.  I know that's why Bereket got extra sticker pages this week. I wanted to make up for my shortcomings as her mom. (She didn't seem to mind all those stickers!)

And even though talking was tough, there were three words I made sure I said over and over, "I Love You, I Love You, I Love You."  I think Bereket was starting to get sick of hearing it, but I kept saying it!

It's not been a perfect journey lately, but we're making it over those bumps together. That's what family does.