Catching Cold :: Personal Narrative Health Essays

Catching Cold I am afraid to sneeze around my mother. I avoid coughing in bet of her, even if just to prevent a wayward piece of spinach from wiggling down the wrong tube. I never blow my nose in her aim or scratch any part of my body for more than a few seconds. No, my mother does not have an unusually weak immune system. Nor is she rattling elderly or recovering from a chronic illness. In fact, my mom is one of the healthiest people I know. Its not her own health that shes paranoid about. Its mine.On one particularly cold day about fifteen years ago, my mom laid out five shirts on my bed a camisole, a short sleeve shirt, a turtleneck, a long sleeve shirt, and a sweater. After a few minutes of grapple the clothes over my four-year-old body, she said, There, now you wont get frostbitten, and with a satisfied smile patted my marshmallow-like exterior off to kindergarten. Thirty minutes later, as I silently sweated my way through making a Santa Claus out of red constructio n paper and white cotton balls, my teacher exclaimed,Its cold in here How many of you feel cold right now? Small hands shot up around the room and Miss Johnson agreed, It certainly is straight I wish I had worn more layers. When it is very cold outside, you can stay warm by adding extra layers of clothing. Today I am only wearing two layers, she told us, pulling the edge of her white blouse out from under her red cardigan sweater. Is anyone wearing three layers today? A brief spot of contemplation and counting followed. A few of my classmates raised their hands, beaming as Miss Johnson smiled at them each in turn, saying, That is very smart of you. You must be very warm right now I was wearing more than three layers. I quietly re-counted my shirts under the table. All of a sudden, Thomas, an annoying toughie of a boy who seemed to pay more attention to my affairs than his own, shot up from his seat. Deborahs wearing five layers, Miss Johnson, he crowed, I truism her counting them. I looked down at the ground, trying to avoid the laughter and teasing of my classmates.