It was the first time, and it wouldn’t be the last.
Something was odd and uncomfortable but I didn’t know what! Mom was right by my side. I was in and out of sleep. She would touch my forehead and I felt the cold run through. She was wetting my face and icing my lips. She would gently ask if I was good and if I could wake up already. She mentioned about the doctor asking if I need anything.
I need my head on a pillow!
I didn’t have the strength to yell it out, so mom giggled at the sound of that and said she’d ask the doctor when I could have a pillow. For now I had to rest and let the anesthesia run out of my system and having my head elevated could apparently mess things up.
I was 10 years old and I had just had my appendix taken out. On my actual birthday! Great gift for us all… I was to have soup through a straw and no solid foods for the next 2 weeks. Forget any birthday cake or candy!
Until that day, I was not aware of my body’s need for a pillow! a good pillow too, for that matter. During my childhood, all my pillows were down filled with fluff from my grandmother’s geese. She would gently pick the fluff off the geese and save it until she had enough to make a couple of pillows. My grandfather’s sister was the seamstress in town and she would make such great items with just a needle and thread! She had a great gift, that one, and she was so passionate about it that everything she made needed to be perfect! I loved the pillows and aprons she made.
When I moved to Canada, no amount of luggage space would allow me to bring over a 45X45cm (at least) stuffed pillow! and so my search for the perfect pillow began. I used to change pillows every other month… some were too soft, too fluffy, too stiff, you name it – I hated it! even the very expensive, brand name pillows were an absolute nightmare to sleep on!
In 2009 I moved out of my parents’ house. I also moved from a double bed to a nice and spacious queen bed! I picked Ikea as my “accessorise this place” shopping stop and in the AS-IS section, while looking for a night stand lamp and some picture frames, I eyed three fluffed up pillows. They were no ‘down filled dream come true’ pillows, but something about them caught my attention. I picked them up and did the whole squeeze and hug a pillow motion and decided even if they were not perfect for sleeping on, I could brag about having a bed full of pillows!
Lo’ and behold, one of those three ended up being the perfect pillow! A $3 pillow saved me from any more sleepless nights! I took it with me to the new house in 2013, but forgot about it through the unpacked boxes. Mitchell wanted fancy pillows, with foam and breathable fabrics like the commercials promised. He loved his, I hated mine..duh! I had to have my pillow back!
Finally found it and I sighed in relief…
It was the first time (again), and it wasn’t the last time I had a good night sleep thanks to this highly treasured pillow!
PS. I hold on to this pillow with my dear life! We’re headed out to the camp grounds this weekend for Canada Day celebrations and this pillow is coming with me. It won’t be the first time I bring my own pillow to a sleepover event! BYOP all the way 😉
July 1, 2016 at 8:12 pm
Every time I don’t BMOP I am sorry. My pillow is nothing special, but if I end up somewhere with those ones that are huge and won’t wad, it’s gross. How do people sleep on those elevated pillows?? If the place has those, I sleep on nothing. Those too-tall pillows have the same effect on me as propping my eyelids open with toothpicks would. I feel like I’m in alert mode and Sleep won’t be coming that night. I’m getting mad at those pillows just thinking about them.
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July 4, 2016 at 10:08 am
OH how I dislike those pillows too! and they are quite common in hotel rooms… They are fine for keeping at your back while watching TV, but for sleeping, I tend to use the “just for show” pillow and shove it in the pillow case. I don’t know how people do not complain about their necks being “broken” by the end of the night!
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July 1, 2016 at 1:19 am
Wow, what an incredible gift to have had a Grandmother and Great-Aunt who took the time and put love into creating such a lovely and useful treasure. I am glad that, if not the same, you have found a pillow that is now perfect for you.
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July 4, 2016 at 10:12 am
It really is such a treasurable skill they had. I hope to master either one (or both) one day, but for now I’ll keep this one pillow out of harm’s way hehe
PS. I really like your Gravatar picture – anonymous, but with character 🙂
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