Golden Age of Detective Fiction

The plan was for my husband and I to fly in and out for the wedding of a college friend of mine. I bought some jewelry and new silver shoes to go with my gown, booked the tickets, and was looking forward to a fun weekend catching up with old friends, but you know the adage about best-laid plans…

The first thing to go wrong was that my husband hit himself with his sledgehammer while surveying in Oregon and cracked three of his ribs. So much for both of us going to the wedding; his weekend would consist of laying in bed, wearing a brace, and icing his ribs.

However, that didn’t turn out to be the plan either.

Early on July 28th, we got a call that a childhood friend of my husband’s had suddenly died of a heart attack. He was only 36, a good husband, and a father of two small boys under five, and had left his family shattered. If you think you don’t need life insurance or a will because you’re “young,” I urge you to consider what you want your family to be dealing with after your death: mourning your life or angry that everything is in complete disarray.

So I frantically booked a flight for my grieving husband, and he flew to one state, and I flew to another: a wedding and a funeral are happening at the same time.

I’ll admit, I had a better time; the wedding was a blast with lots of dancing, good food, and general horsing. We closed out the wedding, we closed out the bar and forgot that we weren’t 21 anymore.

The next day, I called my stepmother from the hotel and asked her to pick me up. Maybe I had too much to drink, perhaps I partied too hard, but every joint in my body hurt, I had a splitting headache, and my throat felt like it was on fire.

She drove me back to my dad’s, and we hung out watching the Olympics; I took a bath, ubered myself some soup, and decided maybe I was too old to party like I was 21 now. Then I threw up, and my heart started racing, and I felt like my heart was going to explode out of my chest. My stepmother is a nurse, so she took my temp, 103.3, and had me take a home COVID test: positive! Before bundling me off to the emergency room for a five-hour stay, where I was diagnosed with COVID-19 and a kidney infection.

After my luxury vacation at the ER, I returned to my dad’s and attempted to get a refund from Spirit. After being on the phone with customer service for an hour and a half, I gave up. I texted my college friends’ group chat to inform them that I had COVID-19 and went to bed.

When I awoke the following day, my phone had several messages wishing me well and several messages stating that my friends also had COVID-19. As a precaution, I tested for COVID-19 before leaving, and the result was negative. But somehow, I had become patient zero and spread COVID-19 to everyone I talked to that night. I felt awful and even armed with the knowledge that I had up-to-date vaccinations, it felt hollow.

My husband flew home, and I stayed an extra five days at my dad’s house- while he was on a work trip to Lambeau Field. My days became a familiar pattern of sleeping, playing with the dog, watching the Olympics, and ordering food because I had no energy to cook. After finishing my course on Paxlovid, I boarded another Spirit flight to Minneapolis and drove three hours home.

I’ve been home for a few days now, but I’m still exhausted and too unfocused to post reviews. I have read several of my last 2#0booksofsummer books, and I think I’ll be able to start posting again by August 15th.

So that’s what I’ve been doing and why I haven’t posted. A wedding, a funeral, and Covid collided, and I’ve learned a lot from this experience (mostly not to do these three things in rapid succession). I’m not quite back to normal yet, but I’m getting there.

I hope all of you are doing well and taking care of yourselves. Remember, your health is the most important thing. 

Carolyn