G is for Gift

John and Justin have been nagging mentioning that I've been coughing a lot for almost a month. I have pretty much ignored it, figuring it was just a virus and lingering cough, like coughs seem to do. Over the past few days I did feel a little "wheezy" and it was hard to take a deep breath when I carried loads of laundry down three floors, so I finally gave in and went to the doctor on Friday.

Imagine my surprise when she told me I had pneumonia. I really didn't feel too bad at all, and am slowly feeling better now that I have antibiotics, an inhaler, and cough medicine (with codeine!) The bad part is that pneumonia prevented me from attending my grand niece's first birthday party. When I let my sister know that I wouldn't be there infecting all the guests, she responded with lots of sympathy and offers of meals.

Yesterday I received even more evidence of Jill's thoughtfulness. She knows that one of my favorite indulgences is to lie on the sofa and read, so she sent me a lovely gift, Last Chance to See, a wonderful book by Douglas Adams (yup, the Hitchhiker's Guide Douglas Adams) that I've been wanting to read for quite a while. A few hours of resting and reading with a cup of tea has made me feel even better.

Yes, I was lucky to receive a wonderfully thoughtful gift from my sister, and I've been the recipient of her generosity and thoughtfulness many, many times in the past. The real gift is that I was lucky enough to get Jill as a sister. She may have been the pesky little sister when we were young; she may have been messy enough that it drove us to put a string down the middle of our shared room to keep the mess on her side (the door was on my side!), but it turns out she's one of the most concerned, considerate, sensitive, and thoughtful people I know. Thanks, Jill!