March Madness hit me in a different way this week.

I am not talking about the NCAA Basketball Tournament although my bracket is in very bad shape. I will save that conversation for another day. 

I am referring to the mysterious illness that hit me on Wednesday and Thursday. I woke up Wednesday feeling lightheaded and dizzy. I bravely tried to work at The Selma Times-Journal, but only lasted two hours and headed home.

Rather than sit at home and work from there, I decided to attend St. Paul Epsicopal Church’s final Lenten Luncheon series. Everything was fine until I tried to leave. I felt lightheaded and fell down. 

The Rev. Amy M. George, Rector St. Paul’s Episcopal Church and her church members were kind to me, making sure I got home safely and giving me stuff to recover.

I have a confession to make. I was determined to hear artist Charlie “Tin Man” Lucas close out the wonderful series that I enjoyed. Lucas was equally wonderful as Jim Corrigan of Craig AirField and Selma-Dallas County Public Library Executive Director Becky Nichols were.

I feel guilty for not hearing Coffee Shoppe owner Jackie Smith and Gospel Tabernacle Pastor John E. Grayson both speak earlier in the series.

George joked and said that everyone had gotten tired of spending their Wednesday lunch at St. Paul. The audience laughed and enjoyed the series.

While I am slowly recovering from this flu, it was a pleasure to attend the St. Paul series to officially start the Easter season. If I had to do things all over again, I would have done the same thing. The Lenten Luncheon series was worth it.

James Jones is the managing editor of The Selma Times-Journal. He can be reached at james.jones@selmatimesjournal.com.