Over the last week, the girls were down with the cold, cough, strep throat etc. It put a damper in the plans for their playdates and other activities. Luckily, they were unaware of most of the plans since I have learned to only inform them of things when I am almost certain it will happen to avoid unnecessary disappointments.

I realized that I was a bit anxious when they were not feeling well. While it is completely reasonable to believe it was just a cold or just strep throat, I was overthinking what may be causing it.  Frankly, I used to be a bit paranoid about these situation even before David’s illness but I think that the experience from his illness may have made it worse – overthinking the smallest pain, cough, cold, or bruise.

It turns out I was not thinking alone, when I told my older daughter I was taking her to the Doctor, she was upset about going (she usually looks forward to seeing her Doctor especially for her routine check ups). She proceed to say that “I do not want to end up like Daddy did”. Clearly her fever had generated some concerns for her also.  I explained to her that this was not the case and that there are times we do not feel good however we make quick recoveries. I tried to explain that Daddy’s case was a rare exception, one that we will never have to experience again by God’s grace.

When my younger daughter started running a temperature in the middle of the night, it became apparent that she was missing her Dad.  She went downstairs with my Mom crying and asking that she want her Daddy. I went downstairs to try to soothe her. She was not happy with my response that Daddy is not here. I was sad as I realized that she just wanted the warm and soothing embrace of Daddy to make her feel better.  Thanks to some late night treat (whipped cream and mango) she calmed down and went back to bed.