Saturday, February 2: On Tuesday, January 29, I started feeling all achy and tired and sick to my stomach. It almost felt like I imagine Chronic Fatigue Syndrome feels, with stomach troubles thrown in for good measure. It came upon me by degrees on Tuesday and lingered Wednesday morning. Wednesday afternoon, I thought I was feeling better and then WHAM! By Wednesday night, I went progressively downhill and was totally wiped out. Every cubic inch of my body was aching, I had a throbbing headache and piercing neck pain, and my stomach was in total disarray. Utter chaos. After having read about the diseases one could catch in Nepal, I had a temporary panic attack that I had contracted spinal meningitis!! Or Amoebic dysentery. However, there was no fever, so I reassured myself that meningitis could not be the problem. I treated myself by barely eating anything, staying in my pajamas from Wednesday through Friday night, and drinking lots of fluids to avert dehydration.
I rarely EVER get sick. However, I have to say, in some bizarre way, I relished having an excuse to stay in my pajamas and in a reclining position all weekend. I have been continually on the go since January 1, when Mike and the boys arrived, until I returned home from Nepal on January 25, where I was constantly cold and uncomfortable. I think my body just decided to put a stop to all my shenanigans and knock me out for a few days.
Brothers & Sisters Season 5
Since I barely felt like doing ANYTHING, I just lay on the couch and alternately read a new book of Nepali short stories I bought in Kathmandu AND watched episode after episode of the 5th and final season of Brothers and Sisters, which I had the boys bring me from the U.S.
Sometimes those Walkers got on my nerves!! Big time!! It frustrated, even infuriated me, the way they put every other person who came into their lives on hold, ALWAYS, as they attended to family business. Or family crises. I couldn’t understand how beautiful French Luc put up with being constantly ignored and belittled by Sarah. Especially as Luc was FABULOUS!! And why every relationship Nora had always fell by the wayside as she sacrificed her own happiness for her self-centered children. And why there was nothing sacred, or private, between any of them.
Overall, I loved their messy but loving family, the family that stuck together throughout all tribulations. My family of origin, the Birdsong clan, used to be like this. I can see, in the Walker family, how we used to be back in the day, before my brother died in 1988 and my mother died in 2002. My brothers and sisters were, and still are, the most fun-loving, most intelligent and witty people I have ever known. I enjoyed our family gatherings immensely. I felt at one time that I was the glue that held us together after my mom died, but then my sister took over holding us together as my family fell apart. My other sister lives in California and doesn’t like to fly, so it’s been years since I’ve seen her. And my brother has gone missing from our lives because he’s going through struggles of his own. We barely ever see or talk to each other any more.
Sarah and Luc dance at their wedding
The Walker family in Brothers and Sisters kept growing and changing and morphing into this motley and crazy collection of people. Yet. I found, as I watched episode after episode, I didn’t want to tear myself away. I felt like I was part of their family. Surely Nora Walker would welcome me into her home; after all, she called her dead husband’s mistress, Holly, a “friend;” she accepted basically any misfit who tumbled into the midst of their family. I found myself getting teary-eyed as Kevin and Scotty tried to cobble together their own family from a foster-home-adopted Olivia to their surrogate-conceived son Daniel, during the last several episodes. As Kitty finally got pregnant and decided to try to have the baby despite the risk to her own health. As Luc reconciled with his mother. And as Sarah and Luc celebrated the wedding of a lifetime.
me, Joan, my mom, Rob, Stephanie, and Dad over 20 years ago!
I found myself missing my extended family. Of course, I miss my own family, especially my children, but what I missed while watching this marathon was my bigger family. In all their craziness and uniqueness. And their messiness.
At the end, at Sarah and Luc’s wedding, Nora Walker quoted from George Eliot:
“It’s never too late to be what you might have been.”
Maybe we can’t be the Walkers, but I believe it’s never too late to be the Birdsongs we might have been.
I rarely get sick either and I had that awful flu! I hope you are better now!
Thanks, Kathryn, I am FINALLY better, but still not totally up to par. So you went through it too? I assume you’re better now? It was horrible!!
Yes and I used to be able to say ” I NEVER get sick” – I hope you are better!!
Thanks, Kathryn. I’ve gone through one course of medicine but now my stomach is still making rumblings. When will I feel normal again??? Thanks for your good wishes.
Hope you are feeling better now CAhy.
I LOVED Brothers and Sisters. Wish I could lay my hands on CD’s of the final season. The last episode I saw ended in a horrific accident! Have been dying to know whether Robert survives!
I’m feeling better now, Madhu, although still not back to normal. Yes, like you, the last episode I saw was at the end of the 4th season: that horrible accident where it appeared that Robert died. I won’t tell you what happened, just suggest that you do watch the last season. I don’t think it was nearly as good as the first four seasons; maybe that’s why it was their last! However, to get closure (haha!), I highly recommend watching it!!
Wishing you a speedy recovery. Never watched Brothers & Sisters so i can’t comment on that.
Thanks, Lynne! I’m feeling better already, but hopefully soon I’ll be back to normal.
“It’s never too late
to be what you
might have been.”
thanks …
Yes, I loved that quote too, Frizz. It gives hope to all of us!
Hope you’re feeling better now
Family is so important – glad you had yours to stay recently.
Thank you, Travelbunny! I was really happy to have them here. And I can’t wait to return home to the USA!
Loved this post, connecting to your family of origin. This is part of your prep to return to life in the USA. We just returned from a visit, and both got sick while we were there. It’s rare, but eventually unavoidable. Glad you are on the mend! As are we.
Yes, Anne, I think I’m starting to put one foot back in Virginia and I’m thinking about how I want to reconnect with people. Especially my family. My best friends from high school are already planning to get together in September, so I can’t wait for that. Sorry to hear you got sick while at home. That’s no fun at all. I’m still not back to normal, but slowly getting there I think. I’m glad to hear you and Mark are on the mend.
I can see how the Walkers rang a bell for you, and watching all those episodes while sick, without other things nagging at your mind, probably allowed you to get more out of them than you would have under normal circumstances. Their family always seemed so foreign to me because mine was nothing at all like theirs, but for a while, it was compelling. I hope your family is able to have a big reunion sometime, including your brother.
Thanks! I hope so too, Lynn. Yes, the Walkers are a little over the top, and I wouldn’t want my family to be so in my face as they are with each other. But I would like to try to draw us close again, like we once were. I feel in a way that I deserted them by coming abroad….
Uh oh…guilty Mom/sis/etc.!! I did see that you gave your sons a gift by having them visit you, no? And why can’t they get along without you? For a while anyway?? Everyone’s growing. Soon you’ll be back.
Yes, I definitely am feeling a little guilty, Lynn. The boys’ father brought them to Oman, and yes, I’m sure they get along without me, but I’ve been living abroad almost three years now and I really feel like I’m missing out on their lives. Only 4 1/2 more months! I’m sure the time will go quickly. It already is!
Hope you;re feeling much better now, Cathy. I’ve never heard of ‘Brothers and Sisters.” Do you think I’d enjoy it, not being American myself? It sounds to me as though you’re really home sick. I’m so sorry about your brother. That must be awful. I never had one, but I wish I had. Hugs to you.
I’m feeling better each day, Sylvia, thank goodness! I don’t know if you would like Brothers and Sisters. It is such a quintessential American family and it takes a while to get into their rhythm, but I did end up getting into the characters and their lives over the 5 seasons. Thanks for your condolences about my brother; it was a long time ago now that he died. He was only 28, sadly, so he didn’t even have a chance to grow up and live his life. Thanks for the hugs. I am definitely homesick and am now counting the days.
xxx
I’m sorry to hear you’ve been unwell, I hope you feel better soon.
I haven’t seen Brothers and Sisters, but I’m sure it’s been on TV here.
Thanks, Elaine. I am feeling better now, thank goodness. That was a week of no fun at all!
Love the picture of your family!! Looking forward to September…
Thanks Louise, but you know that pictures is soooo old!! 1992 I think! I’m looking forward to September too. Can’t wait to see you all again.