Homework #18: Health, Illness and Feasting

This thanksgiving was small for my family. We used to have a big meal with over 15 people in our apartment. Some were family members and others were just friends from the neighborhood. It was big and loud. This year however, we had just my family of four and my friend's family of three. Although it wasn't as big as it used to be, my mom still went all out with the cooking. She made two types of each side dish including stuffing (sausage and veggie), cranberry relish (sweet and tart), and potatoes (sweet and finger-link). The food was fantastic and we sat around for at least three hours just talking and eating. By the end of the night everyone was full. My friend's dad made Tiramisu which was delicious. Afterwards we sat, watched football and listened to the guys discuss the politics behind all of it.

In my experience of this holiday, the anti-body practices are outweighed by the bodily practices such as eating enormous amounts of food and sitting on the couch watching TV. Although part of it involves the electricity of TV, most of it consists of sitting, eating, drinking, and talking. For four hours, we ate and talked which dominated most of the day. The other part was spent cleaning and cooking for this occasion.

Although the company was small, we were supposed to have another couple guests. My friend Moise's dad is currently in the hospital. He had a mild stroke and came down with pneumonia. He is currently undergoing heavy amounts of physical therapy because one of his illnesses caused him the ability to swallow. Because of this unfortunate incident, we decided to invite Moise and his mother to join us for thanksgiving so they didn't have to cook or clean. However, they decided to spend it with family. In the end, we all suffered from health issues this holiday. Maybe not as severe as Moise's dad's, but as I looked around, most of the food we were eating was starch and fat. The healthiest thing on the table were the fried Brussels sprouts. It certainly says something about our culture when the whole country has an entire day dedicated to eating.

Homework #17: Illness and Dying

          When my grandma started to get older, we knew it was the beginning of the end for her. She was about 94 and most of it was just senility. We would have a conversation with her and she would forget about it the next day. Or she would ask the same question again and again as if it were brand new. It made my brother and me very uncomfortable at first because we would have to repeat ourselves and we weren't used to it. After a while we got used to it until last year when she fell and broke her hip. She lived alone so we had to move her to the town senior center. At first when we came to visit, she would sit up and talk to us and move around the place in her wheelchair. But after a while, she eventually stopped and didn't move from her bed. We tried out best to be there but because it's in Missouri, we could only really visit during Christmas and the summer. Last Christmas we went to visit her again. It was hard because she didn't really speak anymore either and looked very sick and frail. At only 90 pounds, she was beginning to lose it. My mother told me that she just liked having us be in the same room, but after a few days of it, it just turned into silent visits. On June 8, 2010, I came home from school to find my parents in a somber mood. My mom hugged me and I knew. We had been getting updates from my aunt who was there with her and they weren't good. My grandma had died of old age just the way a person should. 

          In the cases that I've experienced with illnesses, I've been taught to look at it in an optimistic point of view. So that a cold is just strengthening your immune system, not causing your body to hurt you. I see it as a way of thinking scientifically instead of emotionally because it helps me to feel better and not give into the negativity that illness brings. Dying however is harder to process scientifically without being emotionally stunned. When someone you know dies it takes a couple days to really notice something is wrong. your body automatically shuts down in order to protect itself from the pain. So when I see illness on TV, it doesn't affect me as much as when I see someone die on TV.

          In the american culture, modern medicine has made it so that even the common cold is treated with chemicals and antibiotics. The view of illnesses are that they are just something to be cured. Only the occasional doctor or scientist will really analyze the disease and research the source. Most people, when they get sick, go to a doctor and ask for the medicine that will lead to the fastest recovery. Although that is most desired for the general public which makes a lot of sense, no one really cares about what they're taking as long as someone has told them it will make them feel better. When it comes to dying, people in our culture tend to just accept it. At first, they will try to find a cure, but if a doctor comes in and says "you're going to die," there's a momentary shock for a few days and the one lives their life out to whenever it is they're supposed to die. People rarely say, "that's not true. I refuse to believe it." and then get up and walk out without thinking twice about it. It's generally accepted that if you have a fatal illness, you should prepare for an early death and deal with it to your own preference. My own family acts on these views in a pretty standard way. They don't do anything out of the ordinary as far as I can tell. However, I don't know how any of them would react to hearing that they were going to die but I do believe that it would result in much crying from multiple parties. This is just another form of acceptance.