Summer is almost over and while I no longer have school age children in my house, I work an academic year position at a local Division 1 college. Academic year means I have summers off as well as fall, winter and spring break…which means I am going back to work in the next few weeks.
This summer didn’t go ANYTHING like I had planned or hoped. This is two summers in a row that this happened. Last summer, my son, then 23 had shoulder surgery and was in a sling for 6 weeks. He couldn’t do anything for himself, which meant that John and I needed to stay at home to take care of him. Therefore…no summer travel like John and I were used to doing.
We had great plans for this summer. Normally, we would go camping several times, go to the beach with extended family, I would make a trip to visit my parents, we might head north to Maine…whatever time and money would allow.
Our first camping trip of year was to Great Smoky Mountain National Park. We love camping at Cades Cove in the park and we try to go at least once a year.
Then, in early June we went camping with some family in Virginia. Then…life as we knew it would be changed.
We returned from this trip on Sunday and on Tuesday morning, John woke up with a sore neck. He assumed he slept funny and asked me to rub his neck on Tuesday evening.
On Wednesday he said it was weird, because the pain was now between his shoulder blades.
By the weekend he had a fever. And aches.
He wasn’t sleeping through the night because of the aches and pains. He continued to go to work, but was incredibly tired and worn out.
He was going to bed between 8:30 and 9 p.m. and getting up to go to work about 6:30 or so, but wasn’t sleeping through the night.
Into the second week, he had to go out of town on business. I remember being worried because he still wasn’t feeling well. I prayed that the Lord would take care of him while he was gone.
He returned home not feeling much better.
The fever was gone. But he still wasn’t sleeping well. I asked him to go to the doctor, but, of course, he didn’t think he needed to go.
My husband is very active, very competitive and is NEVER sick. He was dragging himself to work, coming home napping, eating dinner and going to bed no later than 9 p.m.
Something was WRONG.
Come back tomorrow for Part 2.
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