kathleen peterson
Fem-fluenza & The Petersons
I got waylaid by a nasty flu bug that I am still not quite over, yet. Right around Christmas, my neck became very stiff and I had a hard time turning my head from side to side. I visit a chiropractor regularly and this wasn’t spine-related. Having had an allergic reaction to a hair product over a decade ago, I recognized the feeling of lymph node activation. Not good. After my last post on January 14, I was run over by a fully loaded dump truck and didn’t get the license plate number. Fem-fluenza seemed to be altogether fitting and proper after fellow blogger Britchy battled ‘Manbola’.
My new friend gifted me with exhaustion, a sore throat, a strange colored goo-substance in my sinuses and a headache from hell. I can count on one hand how many times in my 52 years I have had a headache. I’m not prone to them. The closest I get is one (or the other) temple will get sore when I need an adjustment. This? My entire skull hurt. My temperature jumped up and down between 99.8 and 101.6, my ears got really hot (there is a joke in there, somewhere) and my eyes ached. I’m not talking scratchy eyes or itchy eyes, I’m talking total eye-socket pain…and, they were hot, too.
There was a three-day stretch where the fever stayed around 101 and eating was just out of the question. I didn’t even have the strength to lift my head, much less chew. My stomach & lungs stayed busy with whatever alien potion was sliding out of my head (which I continue to hack up). In the middle of this waking nightmare, there was entertainment…1000s of channels to stare at while your brain cooks, your eyes weep, your nose runs and you fade in & out of consciousness.
I happened to be catching a repeat episode of Forensic Files on HLN in a lucid moment and came to a common sense conclusion despite my condition. I’m not fond of the last name Peterson. I will explain further.
The particular episode I am referring to is about Michael Peterson and the murder of his wife Kathleen. He was a novelist, wrote columns in the Durham Herald-Sun and was, supposedly, a Marine Vietnam Veteran. The murder took place in Durham in December 2001 and he was convicted in October 2003. There is still some question as to whether or not he was guilty for another woman’s death but, I’m not going to cover his case here. During the show, it hit me. That last name…
I’m sure everyone remembers the Scott Peterson/Laci Peterson murder case. He was convicted in 2004 and sits on death row at San Quentin awaiting a lethal injection while his case is being appealed to California’s Supreme Court. Then…there’s ex-cop Drew Peterson. He came on the scene when his fourth wife Stacy disappeared without a trace in 2007. That lead to a re-opening of his third wife’s death, Kathleen, in 2003. He was convicted of her murder in 2012 and got added time at Terre Haute Penitentiary for attempting to have the Prosecutor in his case killed. What a charmer he is.
After the episode was over, all I could think was “Don’t marry anyone with the last name Peterson, especially if your name is Kathleen.” Sheesh.