The Plague
All right: First thing's first. So Justin and I were invited to his mother's family's annual reuinion. He had basically resigned himself to being unable to go, since we have, like, NO money. But his mom pitched in pretty handsomely, so we were able to do it. We drove down from Seattle, taking a little over three days to finish the trip. We're taking a somewhat different route going back up, since we both have decided that we pretty much loathe Idaho. (No offense to any Idaho friends, but when you've been driving 14 hours and your gas tank is almost out and you haven't even seen a RANCH for 60 miles, it's pretty unnerving.) We had a pretty rough trip here and there, and Justin was pretty touchy a couple of times but it ended up being okay.
So anyway, we made it to Junction, TX on Saturday morning, where his great-aunt lives and where the reunion this year was being hosted. I was included in the family photos and ate SO MUCH delicious food and it was all pretty awesome. I met a ton of people and everyone was super nice and friendly. Not that I doubted they would be super nice, but it was pleasant to have it confirmed, regardless.
And then catastrophe struck the reunion. A couple of family members had fallen ill to some kind of 24-hour stomach bug, but no one really thought too much about it, since it was only a couple of people. Then, Sunday evening, I got it. We thought it was food poisoning for a while since it came on SO FAST and was so violent. You name it, I had it: Vomiting, diahhrea, muscle pains, headache, nausea, everything. We've ruled that out, however, since still not everyone has become sick and people are getting sick at different times. If it were food poisoning, everyone would almost certainly have been through it by now. But it passed pretty quickly and I was able to make it on the 50 mile trip to Leakey, TX, where Justin's grandmother lives, without too much difficulty come Monday morning. I ate some rice last night, which was a small kind of accomplishment, and it felt good to have SOME food in me finally. Then, Justin's sister got it. Then, Justin's aunt. Then, his mother. And now, poor Justin has fallen ill with it as well. So far, it's escaped two of his cousins and, I believe, an uncle, though he possibly was sick already. So this has been reunion drama of epic proportions compared to most years, where someone might get injured or a couple of people might be sick with something, but not like this! This is ridiculous! I'm still hardly 100%, but I'm definitely getting there. I can't imagine eating anything stronger than plain toast, but at least THAT holds no fear for me at this point. It's so odd that it comes and goes so quickly. Pretty much a day after you're exposed the pathogens, you're sick. This kind of thing usually takes a good two of three days to show ANY symptoms, much less have it run its entire course in that time.
So yeah, everyone is basically recouping. Justin, his sister, his aunt, and I are in his aunt's trailer which, might I say, smells disgusting at this point. I think his sister is pretty well on the road to recovery by now, and his aunt shouldn't be too far behind. His mom only just got sick yesterday evening, so she'll be out of commission for the better part of the day today. I hope his grandmother doesn't get it. :( The worst of it seems to be totally past in about 24 hours. I have a few lingering symptoms, but nothing too extreme and it's been 36 hours since I first fell ill. I still have some really unpleasant muscle soreness, and I'll be extremely glad when that passes. It's hard to sleep, it's so painful!
So yeah, that's pretty much where things are now. We'll be able to stay in Texas for awhile, so we'll all be fully recovered and functioning well enough to properly enjoy it, but it's still pretty unpleasant for everyone at the moment. Everyone has still been very sweet and apologizing to me for such a miserably unpleasant end to the annual reunion, but it's not like anyone could have helped it. And that's pretty much it! We'll be roadtripping up through California this time around, sticking the interstate instead of little country highways. I'll update again before we leave, probably, since I do anticipate actually enjoying myself with these poor people at some point, but not until everyone is considerably better.
So anyway, we made it to Junction, TX on Saturday morning, where his great-aunt lives and where the reunion this year was being hosted. I was included in the family photos and ate SO MUCH delicious food and it was all pretty awesome. I met a ton of people and everyone was super nice and friendly. Not that I doubted they would be super nice, but it was pleasant to have it confirmed, regardless.
And then catastrophe struck the reunion. A couple of family members had fallen ill to some kind of 24-hour stomach bug, but no one really thought too much about it, since it was only a couple of people. Then, Sunday evening, I got it. We thought it was food poisoning for a while since it came on SO FAST and was so violent. You name it, I had it: Vomiting, diahhrea, muscle pains, headache, nausea, everything. We've ruled that out, however, since still not everyone has become sick and people are getting sick at different times. If it were food poisoning, everyone would almost certainly have been through it by now. But it passed pretty quickly and I was able to make it on the 50 mile trip to Leakey, TX, where Justin's grandmother lives, without too much difficulty come Monday morning. I ate some rice last night, which was a small kind of accomplishment, and it felt good to have SOME food in me finally. Then, Justin's sister got it. Then, Justin's aunt. Then, his mother. And now, poor Justin has fallen ill with it as well. So far, it's escaped two of his cousins and, I believe, an uncle, though he possibly was sick already. So this has been reunion drama of epic proportions compared to most years, where someone might get injured or a couple of people might be sick with something, but not like this! This is ridiculous! I'm still hardly 100%, but I'm definitely getting there. I can't imagine eating anything stronger than plain toast, but at least THAT holds no fear for me at this point. It's so odd that it comes and goes so quickly. Pretty much a day after you're exposed the pathogens, you're sick. This kind of thing usually takes a good two of three days to show ANY symptoms, much less have it run its entire course in that time.
So yeah, everyone is basically recouping. Justin, his sister, his aunt, and I are in his aunt's trailer which, might I say, smells disgusting at this point. I think his sister is pretty well on the road to recovery by now, and his aunt shouldn't be too far behind. His mom only just got sick yesterday evening, so she'll be out of commission for the better part of the day today. I hope his grandmother doesn't get it. :( The worst of it seems to be totally past in about 24 hours. I have a few lingering symptoms, but nothing too extreme and it's been 36 hours since I first fell ill. I still have some really unpleasant muscle soreness, and I'll be extremely glad when that passes. It's hard to sleep, it's so painful!
So yeah, that's pretty much where things are now. We'll be able to stay in Texas for awhile, so we'll all be fully recovered and functioning well enough to properly enjoy it, but it's still pretty unpleasant for everyone at the moment. Everyone has still been very sweet and apologizing to me for such a miserably unpleasant end to the annual reunion, but it's not like anyone could have helped it. And that's pretty much it! We'll be roadtripping up through California this time around, sticking the interstate instead of little country highways. I'll update again before we leave, probably, since I do anticipate actually enjoying myself with these poor people at some point, but not until everyone is considerably better.