In the past two weeks, some major things happened. My adoptive mother’s health took a sudden rapid decline. She went into the hospital on a Saturday evening, and left the world that Monday morning.

I took some time off from my day job to process the loss. Then the following Sunday, my youngest son, James, came home sick. He had a high fever, a sore throat and lightheadedness. A visit to the doctor the next morning revealed he had strep throat.

On any normal Monday and Tuesday, his older brother could look after him while I went to work. But two things were different: Feb. 11-15 are super busy days at Chocolate Lab, where he works. And even if he hadn’t had to work, my older son contracted a vicious strain of strep a decade ago, and would not go anywhere near his brother until he had been on antibiotics for a few days.

The worst part? My surgery earlier in the year used up my sick time. So I wound up taking two unpaid days off. His pediatrician had no appointments available. So we went to the LVHN Urgent Care instead.

Then the pharmacy couldn’t fill James’ antibiotic prescription until the following evening.

So I was feeling sad, a little angry, and just not good.

Then I remembered to count my blessings. My older son and I got to see my mom the night before she died. I thought about the good visits we had with her in the months earlier.

James got diagnosed with strep quickly. We saw a wonderful physician’s assistant at Urgent Care. We had seen her before, and she was kind and informative. James began recovering quickly, since I had his prescription transferred to another location and was able to start it the evening of his diagnosis. And the pharmacy staff were efficient and nice. And I had my writing job to keep me busy.

Counting blessings can seem tough when you are sad and angry. But it is a worthwhile exercise. So is yoga. I did a lot of that, too. The P.A. at LVHN said strep is going around. Stay calm, and wash your hands often.