The last thing I'll ever see ...

During Sing Song and Lectureship, I actually schedule time each night not for sleep, but for sleep deprivation. So it would stand to reason that I am bound to get sick at some point during this slow destruction of my body and sleeping pattern. This year, however, things were cooking along just fine. Seemed like everyone else was getting sick and dropping, but even after an all-nighter, I maintained. Then Saturday hit.

When I arrived at the office around noon, triple cheeseburger in hand, things were normal. Then I saw the light. Quite literally in fact. I began seeing spots of light all over my line of sight. And not just off and on. All the time. Eyes open or closed. I turned out all the lights in my office and turned on the pink lava lamp on the corner of my desk. In the unnatural glow of that lava lamp I prepared for the worst, even thinking to myself, "This is it. The last thing I'm ever going to see with my eyes is the Optimist office." I don't care who you are or how much you love your job, that is a depressing thought.

After a couple of hours the light spots got better and I decided, as my body started feeling achy and weak, that maybe it was just the flu or what everyone else was coming down with. A two-hour trip to the walk-in clinic of Abilene revealed that I didn't have some rare retinal disease that would strike me blind. I didn't even have the flu just like everyone else. No, it turns out it was just time for my monthly sinus infection.

Melanie, you once said I had a tendency to get deathly ill. So maybe this wasn't deathly ill (certainly it was better than being stricken blind), but I believe you more and more each day. Next time you want to make a premonition like that, let's make it something like, "Jonathan has a tendency to win Pulitzers" or "Jonathan has a tendency to have great skills." I think that might be better.