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Christmas wouldn’t necessarily be the time when you would see voodoo dolls hanging about our house, but this year Grace decided that one was most necessary. I think it’s got something to do with Winter Solstice, but that’s another post, isn’t it?

I’ve been fighting some debilitating pain in my neck, shoulder and painting arm for quite some time. Over the past year, physic, massage and finally surgery just a few weeks back seem to have all been the voodoo I needed to take a step in the right direction. I’ll be honest. It’s been really frustrating not to be able to paint my heart and soul out as quickly as I would like to, and it has been worrisome building up to the surgery.

Ten years ago, I had a small cyst on the back of my neck removed. Wouldn’t you know it – I’m in that rare 1-2% of “yep…it can grow back”. Ten years later, this nasty thing decided to make a return appearance but in a larger form, and it has been causing a lot of health issues. We have all been a bit worried about how it would go…doing everything to make it as easy as possible and hope for the best after surgery. There’s been a lot of men around this house pretending they are Arnold…”It’s just a too-mah!”

Happily, I’m on the backside of the cutting, and looking more than a bit like the Bride of Frankenstein. There will now be a real reason why I wear those black turtlenecks all the time!

I’m not the most resilient when it comes to things like immunity. I can catch a cold just by thinking about it. Time in a hospital is never good for me. I don’t care what anyone says…there be evil germs there, and they put their radar out for me. Post-surgery, I’ve got a wicked sore throat and cold which seems to be worse than the surgery!

“I’ll fix you, Mama.” says Grace as I peer at her from my deathbed, piles of kleenex, Vick’s Vaporub, Vitamin C and ginger ale around me. It’s not my best look.

“Give me one of your hairs.”

“What?” say I through my stuffed-up nose?

“Give me one of your hairs……. I’m going to take care of you.”

I pinch myself to make sure I’m not dreaming through some drug-induced cold medicine haze. Is she going to put me out of my misery?

With that, she produces a tiny little voodoo doll that she had in her “treasures” box. I think her brother bought it for her a couple of years ago when one of the girls at school was tormenting her. She used it to get revenge on her, and apparently it worked as the girl doesn’t bully her any longer.

“I’m going to wrap your hair on this voodoo doll and then take care of you on a little fluffy pillow, just like a cloud…. until you’re all better.”

Wow.

See all the possibilities.

Imagine what can be.

I dunno….this morning the cold seems a little better, and I swear I saw the Philadelphia Cream Cheese girl float by on her puffy white cloud last night.