Friday, March 12, 2010

I rather enjoyed the experience of being sick in bed.

I used to take some days off when I was a pupil. When I had cold, I would say to my mother, "mom, I have fever", and lie in bed the whole day.

I would listen to the radio, and read my favorite books. I would ask my mother to bring my favorite foods, such as a pudding, and eat them straight away beside the bed.

You guessed it right. I rather enjoyed the experience of being sick in bed.

Nowadays, I seldom spend the day in bed even if I feel not so well. Yesterday, according to my own standards in childhood, I would have been classified as sick. I sneezed, and felt feverish. Despite the deterioration, I stalked the streets of Tokyo all right, and worked diligently once at desk.

When I look back on the carefree pupil days when I could take the day off just like that, my heart is filled with a strange and sweet nostalgia.

8 comments:

Yuzu said...

Dear:Mr.Mogi
You told us various things every day....., even you are not very well. I respect you soooooo much.
But before all things please take care of your health.
Nobody happy if you are not fine or something happen.
I think you know that.

Anonymous said...

I have had similar moments of "supreme bliss" in my childhood days. Mine would be the precise moment when my mother leaves the room after agreeing to call the school to take the day off, after which I would immediately begin to pile up the gakken "kagaku" and "gakushu" magazines on my desk beside my bed, bubbling with excitement towards being able to spend a full day going through each edition in bed, one by one.

While not being a healthcare expert, my intuitive view is that it may rather be a "healthy" procedure to catch cold or fever every once in a while, as a maintenance measure of "immunization" and "reboot" of the body and the mind.

Correspondingly, I try (to the best of my effort) to take a positive stance towards any occasional misfortune or hardships which inevitably occur in life, to accept and appreciate (to the extent possible) such experiences as a "healthy" process of immunization, the process of becoming stronger.
SK

砂山鉄夫(Tetsu Sunayama) said...

This essay takes me back to the days. I loved listening to the radio,too. It was old one.

After four p.m., my friend would come to my home with the school lunch foods for the day.

"How are you feeling?"
"My fever went down. Thank you."
"Let's play with tomorrow."
"Yes,let's. Thank you again."

It was a brilliant good old days of my childhood. The flaming sunset sky of the day was very beautiful...

Junko said...

Please take care.I heard a cold is going around.Sleeping is the best medicine,however you probably have no time to take a nap.Keep warm,try to drink grated ginger mixed with hot water and honey,if you can.I hope you would be better condition by bathing in the spring sun.

(ma)gog said...

Yes, I used to enjoy this fancy privilege being in bed with slight fever as a young child (before entering primary school though, as I was never ill once I became a pupil).

Mother was particularly kind, brought my favorite food to my bed, and I felt so protected and happy.

The funny thing is, as a mother of three children (two of them are already adults), I used to appreciate my motherhood especially when the children were (slightly) ill in bed, or at home being free from any engagement, just relaxed and having quiet time. At these occasions I could be the most loving mother, and felt like almost melting away with the warmth of love endlessly growing from my heart.

Anonymous said...

Sorry to comment on something "off topic", but I can't help admiring the beaty of this sentence that (ma)gog wrote.

"At these occasions I could be the most loving mother, and felt like almost melting away with the warmth of love endlessly growing from my heart."

Febria said...

In fact, some of my adult patients asked me to give longer bed rest day than they should have. Which I never give more than they should get :)

I hope you get better soon Dr. Mogi and please take some rest.

Anonymous said...

I agree with Ms/Mr Anonymous's
comment on Ms (ma)gog's phrase.

Ms (ma)gog wrote:

"At these occasions I could be the most loving mother, and felt like almost melting away with the warmth of love endlessly growing from my heart."

When I was a kid, my mother took long time to be fanning my brother and me in summer nights using a paper fan. We two were sleeping together under a mosquito net.
I still remember my mother stayed up until around midnight for our family.