Prompt 87-Caretaker

Describe a time you cared for someone who was sick, or someone cared for you.

I’m super tired so it’s gonna be another anecdotal night. This one is an origin story for my marriage.

I first met my husband at college back in 2009 through mutual friends. I was a bit of a gamer back then, and my roommate was friends with these guys who were super into Halo. She dragged me down to her friend’s dorm one night. He played online with these other guys and tossed me a controller to join in. They didn’t realize at first that the new kid in the lobby was a girl.

Trash talking over the mic eventually led to the revelation that I was Nat’s roommate and “wait, there’s a girl at this school who plays Halo?” Fast forward a month or so and we were all out at a Halloween party together across town. I spent much of the evening on the arm of his floormate.

The next day our mutual friend asked what I’d thought of Andy (who, with his roommate, had been gracious enough to walk me home afterwards). Considering I hadn’t really spent much time with him aside from getting to and from the party my response was “the kid with the glasses?” Unbeknownst to me (maybe either of us, I don’t actually know how aware he was of the situation) our friends had been trying to set us up. It would be another few months before we actually found our way to each other.

I was pining after another boy, one I’d had my sights on for the better part of a year but who was largely an enigma to me. That never panned out, and after the holiday break, I found myself with Andrew and Bill more and more.

It was early in the semester and Andrew had a really nasty cold/flu. Bill had invited me up to hang out after dinner but warned me Andrew was likely to be out of it. I was living in one of the on-campus apartments with a full kitchen so I decided to make chicken noodle soup.

My mom is a magician with the stuff. Her chicken soup has revived the dead. After my dad’s accident, he spent months in the hospital. One time he got an infection and nothing seemed to be working so my mom, being my mom, rolled up her sleeves and said “let me take a whack at it” and she made her magic soup and within days his cold/flu was gone.

She had sent me that recipe when I was really sick in the fall so I busted it out and went grocery shopping. I spent the afternoon in the kitchen and made delicious healing chicken soup. I managed to funnel it into a thermos and hoofed it up the hill and across campus to his dorm. I wasn’t about to let my new friend suffer a stupid cold if I could do anything about it.

Bill would probably say they knew then that I was a keeper and Andrew would marry me one day. I handmade and personally delivered magical soup that healed him and kept him company while he ate it. Then I made him take meds and go to sleep, warned his roommate/suitemates to let him rest and then I took my leave.

The rest, as they say, is history. I started spending all my free time up in their dorm and by spring we were an item. Despite our friend’s ministrations, we found out way to each other on our own terms. And it all started with me being the “mom friend” and taking care of him when he was sick.

Now imagine your OTP.

Alright, I’ve got a busy weekend scheduled so it’s time for me to hit the hay. Be good to each other. Have a great weekend.