Trina Machacek
Summer and all the running, jumping and playing does not have a corner on the market of finding a bruise on your body when you get in the shower. You know. You’ve been outside all day gardening, pulling weeds, maybe running through the sprinkler.
Being carefree and as young as your body will let you feel. Then. There it is. That bruise that is usually really purple and fresh. Maybe on your side, back of your upper arm. You notice the pretty color and say, “Where did I get that?”
No, summer may have more scrapes and bruises than any other season, but. Yes, a purple-yellow outlined “but.” The odd bruise that appears out of space and at mystical times of life? In our house it has always been a badge of honor that we wore when we were hurt and we would tell each other, “No blood. No Sympathy.”
So, no sympathy with a bruise. Well maybe a black eye. Yep, for the most part though, no blood, no sympathy. There is always a reason for a bruise. You stub a toe, back up into a tree limb, run into a door that was closed just a minute ago.
All those you expect and are not caught off guard by the darkening of the skin. Followed by a slight lump as the blood underneath gathers just under the surface of your skin.
Then the purple appears. If it was a big tree branch or a little toe stub that caused you to say some of “those” words, the purple gets darker over the next few days.
Like a badge of honor, we wear a bruise. Like showing how tough we are. For some strange reason we have the need to show the bruises we acquire.
Yes, from the day you learn that sympathy could get you a cookie, to the day you realize a bruise may just get you out of doing the dishes or mowing the lawn, we always show off our bumps and scrapes. Bruises give the best shows.
With a scrape the spot is usually covered by a Band-Aid. Oh, a bruise! It’s just out there for everyone to see. Well unless it is a place that is usually covered. Even if it’s a toe, we are more than ready to unfurl our foot and show our badge of honor.
It’s those spots that take us by surprise, when we are changing clothes or getting out of the shower. All of a sudden there is a black and blue spot on your side. Or one on your upper arm, back, or even on one cheek of your rear end.
We look with wonder. We stop and touch it and rub it like it might rub off. Then, without much doubt, I am going to say nearly to the person, we say, “Well where did that come from?” My other half as he got sicker in his last years, ended up with something called, thrombocytopenia.
A little-known thing that means you don’t have enough platelets in your system to cause your blood to clot. It took me days to say it right and more days to learn that it meant that every time he bumped an appendage, poof a bruise would appear.
It got so bad, and he was embarrassed by the look of his arms, that he was putting Covergirl makeup on to cover the bruises. I remember the look of the lab tech when she was getting ready to draw his blood and her alcohol wipe was soon the color of “natural blush No. 564.” Oh, the things we do.
Thrombocytopenia aside, some of us are lucky enough to also be on blood thinners for some medical reason. Oh, the lovely side effects of getting that same bruise with the slightest of a bump is something to see.
There are a lot of times and reasons that the question, “Well, where did that bruise come from,” can be heard coming from the bathroom. By someone naked! The body we are given has many bumps and bruises to go through.
Each one should have a story. If you get one that-poof-just appears. Well, I say you can make up any story that puts you in the light of hero or sympathy getter. Both are acceptable if you do not use them for evil or unearned purposes.
If you can get an extra piece of pie because of that nice purple splotch. I say go for it. Let’s not go crazy though. Remember, still, no blood no sympathy.
Unless you play your cards right and fairly. Here’s to small bruises, big rewards and a summer of not falling down and breaking our crowns.
Trina lives in Diamond Valley, north of Eureka. She loves to hear from readers. Email her at itybytrina@yahoo.com