Does everybody remember what it felt like to be sick growing up?

You would wake up in the morning and all of the sudden it would just hit you.  Your throat would feel raspy, your nose would be stuffed up, your head would be pounding. Sometimes, your stomach wouldn’t be feeling too great.  It would be awful.

But it wouldn’t be too awful.  Nine times out of ten, your parents would be nice enough to keep you home from school.  Isn’t it weird that before COVID your parents would make you go to school sick?  Just because they wouldn’t always believe you?

Weird.

Anyway, that doesn’t matter now.

When you stayed home from school, you could spend the entire time you would’ve spent studying algebra and world history and would spend it watching old movies and playing video games.  Your mom would bring you home chicken soup on the way home from work.  You wouldn’t even have to get out of bed or off the couch.  It would somehow just magically appear.

The good times.

That doesn’t happen anymore.  I was hit with that realization yet again last week.

I am now in my fifth year of college.  I have been an athlete for all five and have had numerous other responsibilities along with that.  There was always homework and studying that I had to complete. I have often worked a part-time job to earn money.  Then of course there are the daily tasks that we often take for granted.  Laundry, dishes, and just basic cleaning. There are just always things that you have to do, and there are no parents here to take care of any slack for you.

When you’re sick, there isn’t really much you can do about it.  You still have all of these responsibilities that you have to worry about.  Now the task is to figure out how you can either A) get out of those tasks, or B) find a way to do them from home while not completely feeling like death.

I had the flu for basically all of last week. I really couldn’t get out of bed and yet, I still had all of these things I had to do.

I still had to try and complete all of my homework on time, even though sitting up was a ridiculous chore.  I had to find a way to still stay in even decent shape because I knew I would be staying away from practice for a few days.  Oh, I also had to write a column like this last week while being sick.

Don’t tell my advisor, but I might have been a little bit late. But it got turned in, didn’t it? (FINALLY – from, your advisor)

But being sick when your parents aren’t here to take care of you is actually really, really awful.  Now, my parents will say that I never was really “taken care of” when I was sick.  I am the oldest of three and my younger brothers always seemed to be needed to take care of when they were sick (or weren’t).  I didn’t want to be a burden.

Still, it was nice to know that they were there.  If I ever did need them, they certainly would have helped.

Now, when you’re sick, all you can do is lie there while you continue to hope that you get better soon.  Because, you know, responsibilities and whatnot.

It’s a feeling that you are not likely to come across often.  When you’re away at college, you relish the chance to actually be on your own and do things without being under the thumb of your parents.  You can hangout with your friends whenever.  You can come and go as you please.  You can eat whatever you want whenever you want to.  It’s actually incredible.

But in those brief moments where you’re feeling very under the weather, you find yourself actually calling your mom or dad for the first time in weeks.

Speaking of which, call your parents more.  They miss you.