In health, but in sickness?

Being winter in the Southern Hemisphere right now sickness is rife in my city. Coughs and sneezes fill the cool air. Being single and sick, really sucks, especially when you live alone. 

Every winter, without fail, I get sick, to some degree or another.  I suppose I am a bit of a sensitive soul at heart. Last year wasn't too bad, thankfully I was only out of action for a week but the year before I ended up in hospital. This year it's been a combination of somewhere between the two previous years. Yay. 

I fondly recall one of the most considerate things someone did for me was actually when I was very unwell. At the time I happened to also be privileged enough to also be dating a very caring guy and in my illness I got to see his true character...

I was terribly unwell, so unwell that I couldn't eat, which is pretty serious for me. He had a very kind heart but also had responsibilities i.e. He had to go to work, understandably! I had insisted that I would sleep off my sickness and then be back to full health but next thing I knew I had received a delivery of all my favourite Indian food at my door! 

Happily I was also able to support Mr Caring through various bouts of man flu before we amicably parted ways. Recovery to full health is much easier when you aren't alone. 

Being single and sick is a bit like being single at Christmas, it's ones of those times when it would be really great to have someone alongside you, even if it is your Mum! The feeling of your head aching so much you can barely move and your body being in so much pain that even your eyelashes hurt, is simply awful. The pain of sickness is further compounded when all you want is a glass of water but trying to get it feels like conquering Mt Everest. 

Thank God for friends. 

When you are single friends often take the place of a pseudo-family and they can take on increasingly important roles in your life -beyond all the fun stuff together like parties, holidays but also things like next of kin and being your emergency contact!

One of my girlfriends and I regularly check in on each other, as a  welfare check and to see if each other needs anything....ANYTHING and this is if we are healthy as well as unwell. It is often nothing more than a simple SMS asking how the other is and if they need anything. This isn't just about asking "how are you?" But "REALLY how are you?" 

I can see that we will still be doing this for each other for many decades to come and probably well into retirement and beyond! For which I am truly grateful for. 

Both of us have all our family members living overseas and so we have made it our mission to look out for each other and this includes the airport run! We both drop and collect each other from the airport, even at 6am in the morning. 

That is love!

Maybe being unwell is the ultimate reminder of how we can support those we truly care for when they are in need and not just being there when things are well.