Can We Talk 2

Things Families Share

         Some families share memories, some share secrets, some share skeletons. Some share the wealth or fight over it. My family shares the germs. We had an intestinal bug wipe out everyone in ten days, slowly but surely.

         First, the pregnant niece was sick. She's an RN, so it's hard to tell where she got it, maybe some friends' kids. Her nieces, my great nieces, were sick next. Then my brother in another city and his five year old son, then the brother closer to us (niece's father). About then the other niece got sick, and the children of the first niece. By Friday night, 9 days after the first known illness in a relative, my dad and my sister-in-law were sick. Saturday night, I got sick, as did the 2nd niece's husband.

         It, the bug, fools you. You're past the symptoms and you're able to carry on, so you think you're well. The kids are playing again. But that's where you err. You go out and share your still active germs with others. It takes about 2 to 4 days for the germs to wear you down and take over. And then you lie there, once the bodily fluids stop their urgent exit, and wait to die. All the grown-ups reported exhaustion, but the young parents keep pushing instead of recuperating properly.

         My advice is stay home when you've been sick. Don't take your kids to someone else's house, birthday party or whatever for at least 24 hours after all symptoms disappear. If it's a holiday and you just have to go, don't shake hands or hug or kiss anyone. Be kind to kids and old people, even if they tell you not to worry about it. Tell them you'll make it up to them when your family is well. I believe parents and grandparents are carriers of sickness even if they don't get it themselves.

         Of course, that gives you one more thing to share. You can all sit around and commiserate about how bad you felt and make ugly faces remembering how awful it was.