My face looked like a run-down kitchen. My eyes were as red as tomatoes; my nose blocked up like a bad kitchen sink and my mouth was as dry as day old dishes.
The reason? My girlfriend's pet cat, Akira.
Well, Akira shouldn't be totally to blame. I am at fault a little as well. Okay, maybe more than a little. Maybe a lot.
You see I am extremely curious of Akira, having never had a pet before, and love when she comes to sit on my lap. I of course pet her and let her lick my hand and then, with no regard to my own safety, I end up touching my eyes or nose or scratching my face, which leads me to blow up like a balloon and look as if I just watched a very sad movie.
And that is why allergy medicine is such an amazing thing. When I take it all my symptoms stop bugging me and I am free to enjoy not only Akira's company, but also that of my girlfriend. Snuggling up to watch a movie with her isn't as enjoyable when you're sneezing in the popcorn. The medicine takes away the blocks that are keeping me from spending time with the people, and pets, I love and helps to bring me back to normal and enjoy the things around me.
So I am grateful for allergy medicine. I am grateful for the scientists who developed it and the people who make it and sell it. I am grateful for my girlfriend who has stocked up on the medicine in anticipation of my sniffly nose and itchy eyes. And I am grateful for the way it brings me closer to some every day wonders rather than pushing me away from them.
For the last couple of days I have been fighting a cold while studying for exams. Mounds of Kleenex and Halls wrappers don't leave a lot of room for textbooks and binders full of notes so I decided that rather than use my sniffly nose as an excuse not to study I would invest in some cold medicine.
As I walked to my local drug store I thought about how lucky I am to be able to go purchase cold medicine just a few minutes from where I live and how I could afford it. I have a lot of options for different medicines and they are all so close and available to me. I sometimes take for granted that I can chose between Tylenol cold or Buckleys.
And when I went to bed and my throat wasn't burning and my nose wasn't giving me trouble I thought about how fortunate I am to be able to have cold medicine that allows me to feel like I'm not even sick. Cold medicine helps me get the rest I need to battle the germs I have the next day in the absence of good ol' fashioned, homemade chicken soup.
So I am grateful for cold medicine and how it is easily available to me when it might not be for others suffering the same fate as me. I am grateful that cold medicine allows me to do things normally and not have sacrafice studying or having fun or doing errands or whatever I chose to do. And I am grateful that the cold medicine is there for me, fighting on the front lines against the germs in my body.
