Spotted Faces and The Gilded Hand Held Mirror

It was in the early 1960's and Marsha and I had the measles at the same time. I remember Mom putting us together in her and Daddy's bed. She put blankets over the windows to make the room dark. I never asked her why. I thought it was because whenever there was light in the room Marsha would look in my Mom's handheld mirror and burst out crying over the spots on her face. Turns out the windows were covered as to lessen the risk of blindness, as measles causes conjunctivitis and severe light sensitivity (photophobia) that can damage the eyes. Funny how you remember small details. My Mom's handheld mirror. It was heavy and had a gold trim around it as well as the handle was gold. She had a brush that went with it as well. I don't ever remember her using that brush, she had a brush from Avon that was her favorite. Marsha and I would argue and bicker over anything and everything. But her being miserable brought out the empathy in me, so I did the nicest thing I could think of, I turned away from her and put my pillow over my head to cover up my ears. Did they have ear plugs back then? I sure could have used a pair. We both smelled like a medicine cabinet even though it was only Vic's Vaporub. I guess the fever we had made us both extra crabby. Mom put the fan on me. Marsha's complaining about the wind, I'm complaining about her whining and crying. We couldn't do much except play with our dolls and sleep. I know we stayed in that bed until we were over the measles. I know my Dad slept on the couch. I don't remember where my Mom slept. I guess in the backroom with my little sister, who was being kept at a distance from us as she was still a toddler. My Dad was a history teacher and would always lay in the frontroom floor in front of the T.V. to grade papers. I got up to go to the washroom as I felt sick to my stomach. Didn't make it and those graded papers suffered gravely from it. Thankfully it missed my Daddy. The next time we were at a school function all those 11th graders thanked me for giving them extra time to study for that make up test..