It seems I’ve caught this flu bug that’s been going around. I’m not sure it’s SXSars, what with it being more than a month since I was in Austin, but it does feel like whatever this is is kicking around in some cowboy boots, having a grand ol’ time with my immune system.Â
Last night I was thinking about my mom and how she used to take care of me when I was sick. She’d bring me cranberry juice and fruit, and put the remote right next to my pillow so I wouldn’t have to sit up to change the channels. Â For those times when I felt like my skin and my feet were on fire (something that still happens when I’m really ill), she’d give me rub downs with mentholated alcohol. Those massages were heavenly, not only because they cooled my feverish body, but because mom was actively soothing me, her caresses bringing us closer together and reinforcing the mother daughter bond. She’d start to sing or hum a gospel song and in no time flat I’d be sound asleep.Â
Sometimes I wish I were 8 years old again.
