Going Back In Time

When my phone rang and I answered it, my sister-in-law's voice said, "I know it is not your birthday or my birthday but your brother and I were talking about an itch I have and he said I should use Balkoniko." Immediately my mind traveled to when I was growing up and our cat had an itch in its ear (garapatas) and my Mother put some drops of Volcanico in its ear. I told my sister-in-law and she burst out laughing, "What? Your brother wants me to use cat medicine on my itch?"

"Oh, no," I said, it was used for medicinal purposes for humans. She told me that she had never heard of such a thing and put my brother on the phone. He remembered Mom putting Volcanico on any ailments we might have. He recalled it came in an orange box, something I did not remember. I quickly looked up the Volcanico Oil on the Internet and many pictures of the orange box came up. He remembered Mom using the oil to ease the pain of sore muscles. We were surprised that the box also listed it as Turpentine Oil. An interesting fact was that it has been around since 1841!

Our conversation turned to remembering the home cures my Mother used and how we never took aspirin. If we had a fever she would slice potatoes, dip them in vinegar and place them on our forehead. Somehow the fever disappeared. I remember that the potatoes got cooked on our forehead. My brother kiddingly asked, "Did we then eat the cooked potatoes!" He recalled Vicks and being

rubbed down from our necks down to our feet when we had a cold. I remembered my whole body felt cool and being wrapped in a warm blanket. It surprised us how she knew many home remedies to keep us healthy. There was a time when our home had a large quarantine sign on our front porch because I had Scarlet Fever. Dad had to bring food and pass it to my Mother through a window. No one could come into the house and he and my brother slept at my grandmother's house. On the 4th of July Dad went to the doctor's home and asked if the quarantine could be taken off so I could attend the parade. The doctor came and removed the sign and I got to go to the western parade.

We remembered how strong and healthy Dad was throughout his life and how once a week we ate liver and onions for the iron. Also picking spinach in our yard or along the road when we lived on a farm. His garden provided us with tomatoes, lettuce, carrots, radishes, green chile, corn, rhubarb and herbs. We ate healthy because our main protein came from beans. He did not like any thing made artificially, like butter. Once when Mom tried to sneak margarine into something, Dad tasted it right away and let us know that artificial food was not good for us! He walked daily and he took care of his cars, plumbing, electricity, etc. "Work hard," was his motto and he lived to be ninety-six years old!

There was a tornado warning near where my brother lives and we said goodbye so they could charge all their phones, or we would still be reminiscing about our past.

"Let us remember the past with gratitude,

Live the present with enthusiasm, and

Look forward to the future with confidence."

Pope John Paul II