Wednesday, April 19, 2006

plans change

We had big plans for Easter weekend. My older sister was coming up from Nashville with about five friends; my younger sister was coming in from Nebraska, I was coming home… we were going to have a busy weekend celebrating Easter with friends and our big family. (Somehow I also was thinking I could jumpstart two papers and get a lot of reading done. Will I ever learn to be realistic??)

I drove home on Thursday with my dad—we had a great talk as always, and I was getting excited for some time off. Crashed into bed after my mom and younger sister arrived… and woke up two hours later with—how should I put this?—stomach flu.

I really don’t need to get detailed, do I? You can fill in all the blanks. Just know that Friday was a long day.

(And no, other than a feeble attempt to distract myself with an Annie Dillard reading, I didn’t even attempt homework.)

My older sister got in Friday night, but two of her friends were also sick (not with stomach flu, fortunately) and the others stayed behind to keep them company. I was pretty much dead to the world for Friday and Saturday, and on Sunday I was too exhausted to do much more than lie on the sofa. Wow. So much for a festive weekend! I had planned to come back to Calvin on Sunday, but I wasn’t well enough to travel until yesterday. Craziness.

Actually—and maybe this is no surprise—being disgustingly sick and then utterly weak all made me think harder about death and the resurrection. You know? I mean, on the grand scheme of things, stomach flu really is no big deal. Just makes for a bad weekend. But the sheer inability to eat, and the complete sense of vulnerability and weakness… I don’t know. It reminds me that I’m much more powerless than I think I am. Far less in control. And very, very glad that death has been taken care of.

I was bummed to miss out on time with the family, though. I didn’t get to do much more than wave at my older sister… but Mom came back to Calvin with me. She’s staying for the Festival of Faith and Writing, which starts tomorrow!! So much to do, and I’m only just getting my energy back…—jl

Posted by Jenn Langefeld on 04/19 at 03:58 PM
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