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Preface

This story takes place in a time when all I wanted to do was party, which is

contrary to the way I do now. This was what I like to think of as the oldme, the fun,

exciting kid that wanted nothing more than to be the life of the partyand quite frankly

the party itself.

Essay on Illness

It was a week that promised unlimited possibilities; little did I know how quickly

things would turn from sweet to sour. Being a child of divorce, I hardly ever get the

opportunity to exercise dominion over my household without having at least one of my

parents come and check up on me; however, this week would be different. My mom and

step-dad were going on a sailing trip in the Caribbean, and my dad and step-mom were

going to their annual super bowl shindig in Vegas. This was it. I could feel it: a straight

week of partying, perhaps contrivingthe most elaborate and auspicious parties I would

ever throw. Then fate dealt its ugly hand: the flu. On the first nightI kid not, the first

nightI had to myself, I started coming down with strange, but familiar, symptoms.

Being the trooper that I was I tried to endure the worsening conditions, ultimately

realizing that I had to submit myself to fateI would have to call my aunt. Now, make

no mistake, my ambivalence was great. Nothing about this seemed fair; it was as if the

gods themselves had planted this pernicious pathogen inside of me while I wasnt

looking. Nevertheless, my aunt came and got me, and took me to her house thus

dispelling the fantastic beginnings of my big plans.

That night I realized it was for the best. Now, Im not sure that I can ever

remember getting the flu before in my life, but I will never forget the havoc that that virus

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wrought on me during its unexplained mission in my body. Despite feeling worse than I

ever have beforeboth physically and mentallyI felt like I was a burden of the state, or

burden of my aunt and uncles house; this aspect particularly bothered me because I like

to consider myself to be a somewhat, albeit, dependent person, plus I hated the fact that

my aunt had to take care of me because my parents were gone. However, I was much

obliged to receive her care. Nothing, it seemed, would quell my pain and suffering. That

first night there, I did not sleep a wink; not that I could anyway: constantly shifting back

and forth in the bed, while simultaneously being either too hot or too cold (my body and

my mind both trying to compensate), and having to get up to vomit every thirty minutes.

Finally, the morning emerged from its convenientabsence. My aunt informed me that we

needed to go to the doctors office as soon as possible, and with all the energy I retained,

I eagerly, yet carefully, jumped out of bed and into her minivan.

After what seemed like an eternity in the waiting room, the doctor was ready to

see me. He ran a series of tests that determined I had itthe flu, the fn flu. Now, I dont

know about you, but I was ignorant as to how the flu differed from any other ailment, but

I quickly found out, and to my sweet displeasure, the flu lasts at least a week. The

following string of days, or more accurately daze, I felt worse than I ever had in my life; I

could barely walk, talk, eat, sleep, abstain from vomiting, or even think about the odious

virus that was doing this to me. Perhaps just as worse, the medicine that the doctor gave

me to palliate my symptoms worked about as effectively as a placebowithout the

positive psychological side effects. Never in that entire week did the once quixotic

promise of what could-have-been stop bouncing around my skull, taunting and tantalizing

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me with full force, ironic because that idea was about the only remaining part of me that

didnt worsen with the illness.

But with every cloud there is a silver lining right? Not in my case. After about a

weekthat seemed like a yearmy symptoms were alleviating, just in time for me to be

free of complete dependence, though not cured, from my amazing, saint-like aunt, and

spend the rest of the day in my own bedno parties for me. That was it. I missed a week

of school that I still had to make up, lost my golden opportunity to play Hugh Hefner for

a week, and was left in a deplorable, semi-sick state of being. If I could have

communicated to myself earlier the tragic events that would unfold, I would have gotten

a damn flu shot. If you seek a moral to the story this is it: I will neverevermiss the

chance to get a flu shot everagain.