Thursday, November 12, 2009

In Flew Enza

During the 1918 flu pandemic, little girls would jump rope to this grim ditty:

I had a little bird
His name was Enza
I opened up the window
And in flew Enza

Well, it's landed here.

Tim and Dave are sick, sick. I am nursing Ainsley wearing a mask. (If you want to be aware of how often you kiss your babies, just put on a mask.)

I rolled out of bed this morning and asked Tim how he was feeling.

"Sick," he said. "Let's just leave it at that."

In the midst of it all, I am grateful for doctors who take good care of us and supply us with samples. For friends who run to the grocery store. For Tamiflu (even if it is $86.00). For my sisters Kate and Karen who call and chat and don't tell my Dad we have H1N1 in the house. For Ainsley who is, without a doubt, the easiest baby woman ever birthed. For the good health that we usually enjoy.

May I offer up this short-term inconvenience for the many, many people who are chronically ill, most especially my Mom.

5 comments:

Rachel said...

Not to make light of your illness (and I hope you are on the mend!) but when I read the post title, my immediate thought was "Enza. That's a nice name for a baby."

I have GOT to come up with a name. I am making myself crazy.

Kelly@http:/inthesheepfold.blogspot.com said...

That's funny. I love the name Esme, the name of Dan Conkright's daughter. If Ainsley had been a boy, she probably would have been Scott Donnell. Donnell is an Irish derivative of Donum which means gift.Our pregnancy was so completely unexpected -- a gratuitous gift from God.

I have always loved that Andree's maiden name - Donadieu - is French for Gift of God.

Rachel said...

I was (frantically) going through our baby name book on Sunday -- the one we've had since pregnant with Ethan. There was one girl name circled: Ainsley!

I think the name is so sweet, I just didn't remember that it had ever been on one of my lists.

And Scott Donnell is awesome! Sounds like a famous fiction writer.

Kelly@http:/inthesheepfold.blogspot.com said...

How weird is that?!

My niece was here when Ainsley was born. She was determined to cover all possible names. We settled on Ainsley Elizabeth at 11:45 the day we were being kicked out of the hospital. She was Sophie Grace for a few minutes.

Patti Doughty said...

My money was on Sophia Grace - when at home alone sometimes, Deanna and I still refer to her by that name. But she looks more and more like an Ainsley with each passing day.