Finding Warmth

I’m feeling very cold these days.

Winters in St. Louis are, in my humble opinion, for the birds! In fact, they’re rather unbearable. Now, for those of you who hail from the northern part of our country, or for the penguins who reside in the North Pole, our coldest season of the year probably seems very mild and quite tolerable. Yet to me, someone who lives for hundred degree weather and high humidity, winter is the time of year when I often think about moving…………..to the equator!

At work, I’ve had the building manager come out numerous times the past several weeks to fix our office temperature so that I could stop walking around with my coat and scarf on all day long. At home, I am constantly turning the heat up, up, up, always battling my husband who comes along behind me to turn the thermostat right back down. And in my car, I’ve succumbed to having the heater on full blast the entire time I’m driving, just to assure that my fingers can partly thaw out before I arrive at my destination.

At times, coffee or hot chocolate help my inner deep freeze. And, occasionally I’ll sit in front of my fireplace with hopes of feeling toasty. Yet, no matter what I do or how much clothing I put on, I can’t seem to get rid of my constant chill.

Then, a few days ago, as I was shivering and complaining to my family about how freezing and uncomfortable I was feeling, my nine year old daughter Jordyn informed me that she had a solution to my temperature problem.

“I’m going to take a hot bath,” she announced happily. “And if you get in with me, you’ll feel nice and warm!”

“Oh, you’re so sweet!” I hugged my child. “But I have to get ready for work. If I get in a bath, I’ll be too wet to put my clothes on and I’m in a bit of a hurry.”

“It’s really hot in here!” Jordyn called from her steamy tub a few seconds later. “You should really get in, Mommy!”

Sure, the heat sounded good, but what I really needed was to dress quickly and get to my office, no matter how cold I was feeling at that moment.

“Just put a foot in!” Jordyn kept coaxing. “You’ll be happy!” she wooed me in her sing-songy voice.

“Okay, just a foot. For just a quick second!” I replied hesitantly.

And with that, I rolled up my pants and stepped barefoot into her tub.

“Wow! This feels great!” I announced, very surprised.

“Are you getting warmer?” Jordyn asked happily.

“Actually, I am!” I told her, shocked.

Jordyn kept talking about how she’d known all along how to fix my inner freeze. All it took was a warm bath. It was simple!

As I stepped back out of my daughter’s bath, on my mission to get ready for work, I noticed, surprisingly, that I still felt warm inside! Maybe Jordyn was right. All it took was stepping in a warm bath.

Then, again, maybe it wasn’t the hot bath that had warmed me up at all! Maybe, just maybe, it was actually the love of a beautiful nine year old blonde girl that had warmed my heart, and thus, my entire body……………..keeping me happy and comfortable for the entire rest of the day.

By Sharon Dunski Vermont