Sick as a Kid (Written Jan. 30, 1996)
Being sick as a kid was never a "fun" time. When we got sick, we had to stay in bed, alone, upstairs. Here the days were long and often very lonely. I spent the day studying the pictures on the wall, daydreaming, sleeping from time to time, and mostly just hoping and wishing I would soon be well enough to be up and back in school.
I particularly remember one picture that hung on the East wall in our room. It showed a little girl climbing on a wooden fence and looking up into a tree at a bird perched on a branch. The bird was singing a cheery song. As I studied this picture, I imagined I was that little girl, and tried to imagine myself outside on a warm summer day, free as that bird. That picture hangs in my sister Norma's house now and it brings back many memories to me, as I am sure it does to her.
One time, after I had spent several days being sick, I clearly remember the day I started to feel better. It was on a Saturday, and Sat. evening was always bath night. Since I was feeling better, I came downstairs too to get my bath. Bath time was always in the kitchen, with the wood stove going and the door closed. It would get nice and warm in there. The kerosene lamp at one end of the kitchen didn't provide much light, so it was rather dark in there too.
After my bath in the old wash tub, I sneaked into the cellar way, which was off the kitchen, and got a big whole dill pickle from the jar. My appetite was returning to normal and I was hungry for something salty. I was afraid Mother wouldn't let me have a pickle at that time if I asked for it. So I hurried upstairs with it, without anyone knowing what I had done, and crawled back to bed, where I munched my pickle, slowly, and really enjoyed it. I don't think anyone ever knew of this episode, but that pickle tasted better to me than anything I had ever eaten.
I'm sure there were many times like this when one or the other was sick. There was the time we all had the whooping cough. Can you imagine what a nuisance this was to hear us all cough and cough until we had to throw up? Norma, our youngest at that time was in
the buggy, and every time she got a coughing spell she had to be wheeled back and forth. Eventually this ended too.
Then there was the time we all had the "seven year itch". Every night we all got a both, rubbed down with "blue vitrol", (which was supposed to help but burned like fire), and stuck into bed, only to squirm and scratch some more. What a time of scratching this was! I don't know where or how we got it, or if it lasted 7 years, but it lasted a long time and we were all glad to get rid of it.
There were many times when sickness in our family caused calamaties such as these, but these health problems are particularly outstanding in my mind.