Get Through It

After feeling my sickness coming on yesterday, it became apparent this morning when I woke up that the cold that was yesterday threatening was now in full affect. Ugh. I got up long enough this morning to pee, eat a few cough drops and plop down on the couch with my pillow. I didn't even bother turning the TV on. I simply pulled my purple velour blanket Tina sent me up over me and fell back asleep. This is how I spent the rest of my day. Curled up with a blanket dozing in and out of sleep. Occasionally waking up long enough to talk to Marshall for a bit and pee and then going right back to sleep. I guess it could be worse. I could be sick and have to be at work. Yep another draw back to my current profession - no sick days. Sure, I could take the day off if I really had to but I'm certainly not going to get paid for it. And so I count my lucky stars that my cold came on full force on a Saturday and hopefully will be waning by Monday. At one point in the day, I had another one of my cough drops with motivational phrases and it said to me, "Get Through It. Don't Give Up On Yourself." Thank you cough drop for the pep talk. Yes, I know I will get through it. At this point, after surviving the death of my son, I do believe I can get through just about anything the world can throw at me. So, I can certainly get through a head cold.

The one great thing about a head cold is the amazing sleep it provides. I was practically knocked out cold for hours upon hours at end. Best sleep I've had in a long, long time. In fact, I slept so hard I started to have bizarre dreams. I even dreamed I got fired from Homeland because I checked my cell phone at work. Ironic since even the producers themselves text me and email me while I'm at work to see how we are doing during the day. Not to mention the daily emails I get from the colorist about our daily's report and any number of other emails or text I get from the office, wardrobe, ADs and editors. Not to say I could never be fired but that reason certainly wouldn't be why.

I was sleeping particularly hard when I got a phone call from my cousin Brandy. It woke me up in fact and I was so discombobulated I didn't know what was going on. By the time I realized Brandy was calling me, I had missed the call and had to call her back. It was then that I got the second biggest shock this year - Brandy was engaged! I was floored. I never in a million years imagined she would be calling to tell me this news. At only 24, I never thought Brandy would be getting married. She's still in middle of Pharmacy school and her boyfriend will just be starting Pharmacy school in the fall. I guess in a lot of ways I still see Brandy as the little girl that used to call me at 7am on Saturdays to talk because she had just learned how to use the telephone. Now she's getting married?! I also find this hard to believe since I work in a business where practically nobody gets married before the age of 30 except maybe the actors but then all of them are divorced within the year. But, it's not just my business. It's society in general these days. The average age of people getting married is much older now than it was when my parents got married. I only know a few people that got married in their early twenties and over half of them didn't work out. Not to say that getting married when you're older is a sure fire way of not getting a divorce, but I think it helps you to know who you really are.

I am happy for her, but I hope they don't rush in to a marriage. They haven't dated but a little over a year. Hell, I will be celebrating my 3rd wedding anniversary in September and Brandy brought a totally different guy to that whom at the time she was head over heels for. My personal opinion is that they should have a long engagement. Live together. Really get to know each other. Finish school. Then get married. School is hard enough. To throw marriage in on top of that will only make things harder. Marriage changes things. For the most part, Brandy has led a pretty sheltered life. I mean we are from a small town in NC called Goldsboro. Even when she went away to school, she only went an hour away and spent nearly every weekend coming home. She's never even dated a guy that is not from Goldsboro or another surrounding small town. Her experiences in life are very limited and I worry that one day she will be exposed to life outside of Goldsboro and her comforts and that might open her eyes to other possibilities. Possibilities that might infringe on this upcoming marriage.

But, she's happy for now. And who wouldn't be happy judging by the ring he gave her. I have to give the boy credit - he spared no expense for her happiness. I am happy for her and I'm happy the family has some good news to celebrate in. I like her boyfriend Bryce a lot and I think he does everything he can to treat her right. He dotes on her and I have no doubt he loves her, as does she him. I just hope that it is the type of love that can withstand the test of time and change as they change. For there is one thing I know for sure - most people change drastically in their twenties. You come into your own during this time. You start to have a better understanding of who you are, what you stand for and what you want out of life. It's often why friends you had when you were in your early twenties are no longer the same friends you have in your thirties. You just changed and grew apart. Hopefully, this won't happen to Brandy and Bryce. Hopefully, their changes will complement each other and they will grow together and not apart. Only time will tell. I pray that they too will "get through it."