In Sickness and in Health

Posted by: Wendy Shalit
Topic:  the unmentioned subject

I was telling my husband the other day that I thought we'd covered every conceivable topic here on this Great Mate Debate, but he pointed out that there was one topic we actually hadn't covered yet: illness.

What happens when one partner falls ill, and the other takes off work to care for him or her, or their respective child, and then boom!  Just as the ill person is getting better, the well person often becomes ill too, thus compounding the drama (and adding to the sick days). It's enough to make one sick!

It's certainly a delicate balance when caring for an ill loved one.  You want to provide excellent care and tend to every need, but if you can possibly avoid getting sick yourself--especially if you are the type for whom colds tend to blossom into full-fledged severe upper respiratory infections--then is that so wrong? Wouldn't that be better for everyone? 

On the other hand, in my experience, when you make an effort not to get sick (and skimp on the kisses for example) you usually get sick anyway, so what did you gain? These days, my policy is that you may as well do everything to help the sick person feel better, and leave what happens to you in God's hands.