Pox Party

Little Butterfly Wings and Studio Basic: Life Is : Making Memories, Grateful
Little Butterfly Wings: Memory Lane

The year was 1987, and I was 5 years old. A childhood friend from school had come down with the Chicken Pox. Back in the day, well my childhood, they had things called Chicken Pox Parties. Parents would invite other neighbor kids over to their house when their children had the Pox so everyone would get infected. As horrible as it sounds, it was a quite common event. The plan was to infect children when they were young so that the infection would be less complicated than it would be if they got it as an adult. My parents heard this neighbor child had the Pox, and we went over to her house everyday for a week. My little sister and I were instructed to play with this child, even give her hugs. Of course, the plan worked and days later my sister and I were both highly infected with the Chicken Pox. I luckily got a mild case, my sister on the other hand got a much worse case and it was horrid for weeks straight. To help us not itch ourselves, my parents dressed us in loose clothing and made us wear mittens. I remember being bathed in oatmeal and slathered head to toe in Calamine. And while we were recovering I remember my parents inviting others over to catch the virus from us. I am so glad the day has come where these "parties" are no longer a thing and my kids had the chance to receive a shot, so they did not have to face the same itchy fate as my sister and I endured as young children.