My Mom showed me her hands the other day and they were rough and in need of lotion. As she showed me her hands, I told her that she needed, “Whoa-shin” and I started to laugh.
When Sean was little and when we still lived with my parents, he used to say, “Whoa-shin” instead of lotion. Now, when I was little, my Mom used to always lotion her hands before we went into church on Sundays because they were rough. She needed to soften them up for the, “Sign of peace” hand shakes. I have never liked the feel of lotion on my hands since Sean has been alive so he had to hear that word from my Mom.
I remember when I taught English, I had expensive natural lotion that didn’t feel greasy when I put it on my hands. I needed to find lotion because my hands would get dry, crack, and bleed in the winter. The lotion was expensive and before I was finished using it up, the container cracked and it began to leak out. I didn’t want to waste it so I put the bottle of lotion into a gallon Ziploc bag so it could leak out into the bag and I would just put my hand inside the bag and get some lotion out before I started work.
One student, I don’t even remember his name, but he made a comment about my, “Bag of lotion” and it made me laugh because he said it like it was a normal thing. Thinking about Sean saying, “Whoa-shin” add my student talking about my, “Bag of lotion” made me realize that my hands no longer get dry, crack, and bleed because I rarely leave my house now so I’m not exposed to the cold. When I do, I wear gloves from late September until February or March anyway. I don’t need any, “Whoa-shin” now but I When I remember Sean saying that when he was little and it makes me smile.