It’s 3 a.m. on December 24 and I’m sitting in my basement trying to stay warm and alive long enough to finish this potentially last missive to the readership of Pittsburgh Boomers.

Okay, maybe that’s a bit melodramatic. But not by much.

With hot, black coffee coursing through my veins and my head propped precariously on my PC, I am committed, like Frodo climbing that really scary mountain to toss a ring into some volcano (which my wife still maintains was nothing more than a sinful waste of some fine jewelry) to fulfill my commitment to Boomers and to you before … well, I don’t really want to think about it.

You see, earlier this week I caught some kind of a nasty virus and for the past three days I’ve been sneezing and coughing and shivering and sweating—in other words, I’ve been the perfect Prince Charming my aforementioned bride always dreamed would come and sweep her of off her feet.

To her credit (and you should know that I typed and deleted this sentence at least a half-dozen times), my Better Half has been sympathetic and supportive during my illness, often stopping in the middle of Christmas preparation or yelling at our three boys (the former being a strictly seasonal activity, the latter a year-round sport) to offer me a cup of tea, a bowl of soup or another blanket.

In other words, she has undermined me again. Because if ever I needed some quick and easy real life examples of surviving marriage—you know, men are from Mars and women are from Wexford or however that goes—it was now. And she didn’t have the decency to come through. Not one insult, not one roll-of-the-eyes (which, as every married guy knows, speaks louder than a thousand words), not one attempt to question my manhood when I asked her to push the buttons on the TV remote because my fingers were too weak.

(The only thing I can figure is that she finally has come to the realization that common illnesses like colds and flu really do hit men harder than women, which is why we need constant pampering when we’re sick, whereas all they need is an occasion sympathetic inquiry, like “Are you feeling any better?” You could look it up. I think.)

Seriously, though (which is always an unusual phrase to read in what is at least supposed to be a humor column), this past week helped remind me of why I started writing this column in the first place. Someone once said that life is what happens while we’re planning for something else. I certainly hadn’t planned to spend the week before the biggest holiday season of the year flat on my back. (Another old quote: Want to make God laugh? Tell Him you have plans.) But there I was.

I’ve found myself “flat on my back” many times in my life and no doubt you have, too. And guess what? It’s likely we’ll all be in the prone position a few more times in the New Year. The important thing is getting back up with style, grace and, perhaps most important, with humor.

So, I hope I speak for all of us when I say to 2005: Bring it on. We can handle it.

Ron Cichowicz, vice president of development for Gateway Rehabilitation Center, is a Pittsburgh-based author and lecturer and luncheon speaker. If your business or organization would like to invite Ron to present a program on the “Positive Benefits of Humor” or other topics, contact him at roncichowicz27@comcast.net, or call (412) 885-4543.