Gluten Free with Julie B: When Your Husband Gets the Chicken Pox…part 2

Christmas morning arrived and my poor husband had gotten about 100 times worse overnight. (We would later discover that this wasn't even the worst of it). Spots everywhere. Fever. Dizzy. Unable to move. The good news…he wasn't itchy…yet...and no one else woke up with spots. I was more than a bit relieved.

I brought Jon all of his gifts and we planned on face timing each other so he could somewhat participate. I was so disappointed he was "missing" Josh's first Christmas but luckily Josh is still so little that he didn't even notice or care. But I did. And Jon did. We were both sad.

We opened stockings and gifts for hours on end. Squeals of delight ensued as my sisters opened barbies, books, clothes, purses, makeup and all things girly. Josh was more interested in the paper than anything else but it was adorable. I kept examining him for any sign of spots. So far so good.

Meanwhile, mom started making calls to the 30 family members who were planning on joining us later in the day for Christmas dinner, gingerbread house decorating and more gifts. We quickly realized none of that would happen. Even though most of the adults had chicken pox already risking bringing any kids over wasn't smart. Plus, since Josh and I had been around Jon so much the past few days there was a chance we had the virus and were contagious, even though we hadn't broken out yet. A lot of family members agonized over the decision to come or not…but everyone knew it was safer to stay away.

My poor husband had the best attitude of anyone. He never complained. NOT ONCE. In fact, I rarely hear my husband complain. It is one of his attributes that I most admire and wish to emulate. This situation was no different. He takes what befalls him and rolls with it. He's awesome.

I cried. Again. I was so sad we weren't going to see family. I was sad that Josh wouldn't get to see them. I was feeling guilty about "ruining" everyone's Christmas Day plans. I felt guilty about the 19 pound turkey that was in the fridge not to mention a ton of other food waiting to be cooked for the day's meal. And now…none of it was going to happen…because of us.

I knew it was no one's fault. Life happens. And sometimes part of life is chicken pox. Everyone else was laughing and trying to convince me it was no big deal. And looking back it really wasn't. But then and there in that moment it sure felt like the biggest disappointment ever. And there was nothing I could do to fix it (my go-to remedy when things go wrong). So…with the help of my family (and a couple cinnamon rolls) I laughed.

And we had a great Christmas. Pox and all.