The Price of Performing Fine

Dear Worthy Woman,

Some time ago, I was driving my daughter home from a doctor’s appointment and shot this video. It looked like a routine errand to the outside world, but in the car, it was anything but.

I had been vomiting for most of the previous night. Food poisoning (or something close to it) had me curled up on the bathroom floor begging for mercy, and I still was feeling bad when I shot this video.

My husband practically begged me to let him cancel a work trip so he could stay home and help.

But I told him no. “I’ll be fine,” I said, as if sheer stubbornness could cure nausea.

So there I was. One hand on the steering wheel, laughing and talking with my daughter, while secretly praying that my nausea didn’t bubble over on the road.

It felt like I was doing the noble thing. I was being strong and handling it. But all I really did was prove that even when I feel like death has warmed over, I will still contort myself to keep going and performing.

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