We’ve been really looking forward to this upcoming week. My mom is visiting and Sienna’s out of school and her summer program for another week. Dennis and I each took off the four days leading up to 4th of July for a mini summer break. Our plan was to hang out as a family, go to the beach, get in a date night (or two!) and just relax.
Instead, we’ve been hunkered down due to the most unusual circumstance. Dennis is sick. Really sick. He was diagnosed with shingles on Thursday morning. It got worse over the next couple days so we headed to urgent care twice this weekend.
Yesterday we left Gaga with the kids and headed to urgent care for our first of two “dates”. Obviously Dennis didn’t feel well and it wasn’t a particularly fun time. But, we did get to sit together and talk without interruption for nearly an hour. I found myself feeling grounded, bonded, and solely focused on my husband. Since I’m not suffering from infirmity, I’d even say it was a little fun for me.
More than that, it reminded me of the most significant aspects of being married. Having someone there that loves you and takes care of you in hard times. Someone to ask the doctors questions and advocate for your care. Someone who knows all your personal information by heart and therefore can fill out forms and paperwork to save you the trouble when you’re feeling crummy.
I told Dennis, “You know you married the right person when you can enjoy the time waiting in urgent together and call it a date.”
This week has been poignant for all of us. The kids are sort of shocked to see their strong, active father in such a state. When we left the house a couple of times of Friday, Teo kept asking, “Why isn’t Daddy coming with us?” Sienna keeps watching Dennis out of the corner of her eye, looking concerned. Last night they were cuddled on the couch and told me they were pretending they were sick, like daddy. Having Gaga here has been a blessing and a wonderful distraction for the kids. Still, it was heart wrenching to see them so concerned.
While waiting at the doctor’s office yesterday, Dennis and I discussed the kids’ reactions this week. He commented, “I really miss hugging them.”
There’s so much joy and happiness in being a family. But, the moments that really bond us together are when we rally to support one another. This week hasn’t turned out the way we expected, but it’s still accomplished our goal – getting to spend a lot of time together and enjoying one another’s company.
We’ll just have to plan some fun activities for next week.