That weekend it was Elie's actual birthday. Miles had a hockey game in Gimli on Saturday and then we watched my brother James get his 24th career shutout that evening, watching him on TV, like we did whenever he played. He was playing for the Carolina Hurricanes that season. We are so proud of him and love to watch him play.
On Sunday, we kept celebrating Elie by going to Winnipeg and watching Frozen 2 at the theatre - she loved it! I was feeling really achy and sick and my right hand had closed up and contracted so that I couldn't straighten my 4th and 5th fingers. I knew this was really weird - I couldn't explain it - but didn't think it was worth a trip to the ER. I tried to be brave and give Elie a good birthday weekend. Autumn was coughing a lot and and Miles had a runny nose.
On Monday morning, Jan. 13, we received the incredibly sad news that James' sister Jolene - his youngest sibling - and her husband Mike, had lost their baby the night before. She had been about 5 months pregnant with their first baby and we had all been so excited and happy for them. Madalyn Grace was born too early and after one and a half hours went to be with Jesus. Our hearts broke for them as we tried to imagine their shock and grief.
I dragged myself to work that morning, feeling so sad for Jolene and Mike and also feeling as sick as a dog. I texted James from work saying "I don't know who is sicker - me or my patients". I didn't realize until after work that I was coming down with the flu.
By Tuesday, Jan. 14, I was running a high fever and feeling absolutely terrible. In that pre-Covid19 era (well, I guess it was already starting on the other side of the world - and who knows, maybe the flu I had was Covid...!) it didn't feel that strange to still go along to Winnipeg with James as we had planned. He had an appointment at the pacemaker clinic and with his new cardiologist that I wanted to attend. I loaded up on Advil and Tylenol and we tried to make the best of the day in Winnipeg together going to his appointments and he did a quick Costco run. We were also starting to make plans to take time off work to drive to Fort Frances, ON later that week to go and support Mike and Jolene and attend the memorial for Madalyn. It would be a 5-6 hour drive through the US and then back up into northwestern Ontario where they lived. Again, this was pre-Covid time. In the world we live in now in September 2021 I would not have left the house feeling as sick and feverish as I was - never mind a trip to Winnipeg or to a memorial service in another province. How times have changed.
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