Thanksgiving breakfast (and my first real meal after six days of not eating).
Can you tell this was supposed to be my “What I’m thankful for” Thanksgiving post? Better late than never.
spicy thai-viet hot pot
Another year older, another year weirder.
I had been sick for the past week leading up to Thanksgiving. A terrible lingering stomach virus that made me so nauseous that I was unable to eat for five days. That, and everything I tried to force down came right back up. It was completely crazy to me — someone who is always hungry — to not have any appetite whatsoever. It was the exact opposite of an appetite. I don’t think I have ever gone so long without eating and with Thanksgiving, my mom’s cooking, and my birthday right around the corner, it was starting to piss me off. I told Sly that I wanted to eat a burger on my birthday if I could even eat ANYTHING on my birthday. As if it were some kind of dying wish; my overly dramatic final meal. At that point, feeling as crappy as I did, the idea of eating a cracker seemed far-fetched. A burger sounded impossible.
On day six, still feeling extremely nauseous, I boarded a plane to go back home to Texas. And while I never get plane sick, this flight tested me in every way possible. I was freaking out thinking that I’d have to be the one person in the history of modern air travel that actually had to use the paper puke bag.
Maybe there is a healing power to being home. To being surrounded by family. To my mom’s cooking and the sheer desire to eat said cooking. A desire more powerful than any illness. It’s as if my body made a choice right then and there because I couldn’t NOT eat my mom’s food. So I ate…tentatively at first…then just the more mild things…then I was all in. I figured if I was going to feel sick after, then it was worth the price that I had to pay.
Long boring story short I ate and ate and ate and ate and more than made up for 5+ days of not eating. On my birthday Sly made me the best mushroom swiss burger ever, followed by a birthday (blueberry) pie for dessert. It was pure happiness on a plate, and I cannot tell you how happy it made me to just be able to eat a simple burger and a slice of blueberry pie. It was the best gift ever.
As terrible as it was to be sick, especially around the holidays and my birthday, it really made me step back and realize how thankful I am — for family that loves me, for a husband that takes care of me, for kitties that keep me company while I’m puking, for my health. These are the simple things in life, the ones I tend to take for granted, and the ones that I treasure the most.
