The Ritual Remedy
Wes plods to the bedroom, a cold rag pressed to his head. I shudder. Third migraine this week, I think, annoyed with the front coming through.
I lower the temperature to arctic, don a sweatshirt, grab a mystery off the shelf, and pull out sunflower seeds, my ritual remedy.
The mindless act of breaking shells and liberating them into my belly calms me somehow. Food as medicine--that's nothing new. I'm not sick, but it feels as if we suffer migraines together. Wes yearns for sleep, for unconsciousness as an escape from pain. I dive into a different mindlessness, a murder mystery and a love for seeds I share with my father.
The seeds somehow pull me back to childhood, to a time before migraines, to road trips with the family.
Eventually, Wes emerges from the bedroom, the grasp of the migraine loosened from varied remedies: drugs, cold temperatures, dark spaces, hot baths--whatever it takes. Then I put away the seeds and return to the present, to Wes, to marriage.
I lower the temperature to arctic, don a sweatshirt, grab a mystery off the shelf, and pull out sunflower seeds, my ritual remedy.
The mindless act of breaking shells and liberating them into my belly calms me somehow. Food as medicine--that's nothing new. I'm not sick, but it feels as if we suffer migraines together. Wes yearns for sleep, for unconsciousness as an escape from pain. I dive into a different mindlessness, a murder mystery and a love for seeds I share with my father.
The seeds somehow pull me back to childhood, to a time before migraines, to road trips with the family.
Eventually, Wes emerges from the bedroom, the grasp of the migraine loosened from varied remedies: drugs, cold temperatures, dark spaces, hot baths--whatever it takes. Then I put away the seeds and return to the present, to Wes, to marriage.
posted by Donna Sewell at
8:47 AM
4 Comments:
I really like this. I especially like the way you pull it all together at the end.
I had an addiction to sunflower seeds a couple of years ago. I am in the process of moving and found them all over my house. Under furniture, behind my computer desk... It was kind of embarrassing.
By
Andrea, at 9:14 AM
That's a very odd ritual. Does your part help him with his migraine? I just ran into my last high school girlfriend out here in the hall. That has nothing to do with the piece I know, but you know how my brain works. Running into her was about as odd as your ritual. There's my tie in.
By
Adam, at 2:25 PM
I'm not sure it helps him, but it helps me not think about the pain he's in and my inability to help. I never grew up around people who were sick, people who suffered much, so seeing someone suffer and not being able to make it better just sucks. He says that knowing I'm here and checking on him helps, but I don't see how.
By
Donna Sewell, at 5:59 PM
Maxalt is an AMAZING little pill. Migraines are a common occurence with me, too; I've had two this week already. I like the line about you "liberating" the shells "into you belly." I like how I am always able to visualize you doing the actions in your pieces.
By
eromler, at 7:12 PM
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