Next week, on March first, my favorite holiday heralds Spring’s imminent return. In Romania, the day is called Martisor for Little March. (If you’ve read One Degree of Freedom, you know it’s also Adriana’s favorite day.)

Martisor celebrates the coming of Spring, the possibility of Love, and the Hope that winter and hard times will not last forever. Better than Valentine’s Day or Mother’s Day, it’s an all-inclusive holiday to acknowledge ALL the women and girls in your life, culminating a week later with International Women’s Day.

Just what our pandemic-weary world needs right now.Almost twenty years ago, when I got married, it felt like another winter-ending, spring-beginning season opening its arms to me. In our wedding vows, I quoted from Song of Solomon 2:11-12 to Steve:

See! The winter is past;
    the rains are over and gone.
Flowers appear on the earth;
    the season of singing has come,
the cooing of doves
    is heard in our land.

Spring brings life and freedom. New life breaks through the cold, hard ground and shakes free of its winter tomb. Sunshine and rebirth lighten our steps, revive our spirits, and make us feel free.

I’m also feeling a little freer since my family (husband, parents, and me) all got our second shots of the vaccine on Friday. Appropriately, the name of the place where we received the shots is Freedom High School.

The nurse told me that about 20% of people–one out of five–experience flu-like symptoms after the second dose, but it only lasts 1-2 days. I thanked him for telling me what to look out for with my parents. I prayed: Lord, if one of the four of us has to feel sick, please let it be me. 

He did. My parents escaped unscathed, but not me. That night, I woke up with severe chills and nausea; I even threw up. My fever, chills, and body aches continued all the next day and even Sunday morning. Thankfully, it happened over a weekend.

I told Steve, who didn’t feel a thing–not even soreness in his arm, that I should have prayed: Lord, if one of the four of us has to feel sick, please let it be Steve or me, but especially Steve. (Please don’t judge me. Just being honest here.)

And then, about 32 hours after it started, I felt fine.

Yes, I was pretty miserable all day Saturday. My only relief came when I bundled up in blankets and cuddled next to my husband to spend all afternoon watching one of the best  movies ever made, The Sound of Music. I didn’t feel any pain during those four hours.

But here’s the thing: 32 hours of not feeling well is NOTHING compared to the agony and possible death–often alone–from Covid.

It’s also nothing compared to the sheer relief I feel now. We will still wear masks and practice social distancing, but a little life, a little normalcy, a little freedom, is starting to return.

Just in time for Spring.