As a husband, this has been a challenging time. Watching Lynne faint, no matter how benign it was, was scary enough. Feeling incredibly limited to do anything of substance to help her as she recovers, other than a few things around the edges was maddening. The support of friends and family has been an incredible boost to our spirits. Plus, the practical realities of taking care of two children and other responsibilities were eased by the efforts of my parents, in-laws, countless friends and others. For that I am deeply grateful.
However, I am not intending this post to be all serious.
As a spouse, it is the little things that I notice that can give me clues about Lynne’s state. Asking her to rate today’s nausea on a scale of 1 to 10 or compared to yesterday’s only served to frustrate her or make her focus on the nausea. So, I’ve stopped asking (at least I think I have). But, there have been signs of life…
Yesterday, Lynne mentioned that the dining room was looking a little cluttered. If you know Lynne, clutter is not a friend of hers on Facebook. So, we cleaned it a little bit. A good sign.
Last night, I bribed Eli to help me fold the laundry (our normal laundry day is Friday, but due to the circumstances, we couldn’t get to it until Tuesday). It cost me $0.05 per pair of properly paired and folded socks, but it was worth it. I then told him I would never pay him again for doing the laundry and pointed out that no one pays me, but I do it anyway, and that showing him how long it takes (via the payments) maybe he would appreciate it a bit more. We had 5 hampers of folded laundry when we were done.
I had a Parents Association meeting this morning and when I returned, I noticed that the two hampers in our bedroom with our clothes were mysteriously missing. “Did you put away the laundry?” I asked Lynne. She smiled and I gave her a little high-five. That she had the energy and felt good enough to tackle a piece of household minutia was definitely a very good sign of life.
An unrelated note: A few friends came over to watch “Bridesmaids” with Lynne late this morning. I was on the 2nd floor and could hear the laughter all the way upstairs. A good day indeed.
The Bridesmaids Laugh-a-thon
