Comfort First Aid Kit
I don’t do “sick” well at all. By 2PM yesterday my usually very patient and caring Tom was looking for an excuse to go out. It was his day off and he was stuck inside with me, Crabby Appleton. He was trying to be a good sport and offering all the right things – tea, kleenex, blanket – and I was being snarky. When I’m sick the best thing a person can do for me is leave me alone and not ask me 50 million times if I’m feeling better. Just a bad personality quirk on my part. After he left (to my relief and his) I started thinking about the things that comfort us and how for many of us those things stem from our childhood. Not the zinc and vitamin C I talked about for the medicine cabinet the other day – rather a first aid kit for the soul. I’ve decided that I will put one together for the next time I get knocked down by a virus.
A box of Jasmine tea bags
My favorite tea cup
Sugar cubes
A colorful square box of tissues
An old soft quilt
A book of poetry
Heating pad or hot water bottle
I might even stick in a coloring book and crayons
My mother always made me tea and sweetened it with sugar cubes she had saved from our last trip to the Chintz Room restaurant at Lazarus, the big department store in Columbus – a cousin to Higbys that was here in Cleveland, I think. The cup was a child’s mug shaped and painted like a child’s face.
She would settle me on the couch (probably so she didn’t have to keep running back to the bedroom every time I called) with a box of tissues, a book – usually A CHILD’S GARDEN OF VERSES, and the heating pad to keep me warm.
To this day I can’t be sick and lay in bed. The only place to convalesce is the living room couch, with my quilt and comfy pillow. Good place for dozing off with the cat on my feet and a book by my side.
What would you put in your “comfort kit” ? Slipper sox? Lotion? Magazine? Journal? Shortbread cookies? Stuffed bear? Think back to the things you turn to for comfort or what you remember being comforted by as a child when you were ill. Even if you don’t put those things together in a basket, keep them together in your mind because sometimes the memories are comfort enough.
Tomorrow when the weather is warmer, my sore throat is a thing of the past and I’ve abandoned my place on the couch I will write about some other “cures” – cures from the kitchen or home remedies that you can have on hand for some minor everyday health issues.
I would love to have your feedback. What are some of the things you remember being comforted by as a child? What are your “go to” things now when you don’t feel well, mentally or physically? Leave your comments here or on my FaceBook page.