schadenfreude: (license)
My nephew is here visiting and we've stumbled upon the topic of folk medicine and remedies. We had several "practitioners" in our extended family and have been comparing stories. I'll share one with you, and hope you will reciprocate.

When I was 5-6 years old, I developed a wart on the bottom of my heel. After a few days, it hurt when I walked on it, so I showed it to my parents. One Sunday afternoon, we were at my Granny's for dinner and my dad called Uncle Wesley over and had me show him my foot. My Granny overheard and came to join us. Wes looked at my foot, turned it every which way, rubbed his chin, muttered to himself, turned to confer with my Granny, and announced it was "just a wart."

He reached in his pocket, pulled out a penny, and began to rub it on the wart. He continued doing this until my foot felt very warm, almost uncomfortable. My Gran handed Wes another penny and said, "I want one, too!"

Uncle Wes repeated the procedure with the second penny, then handed both pennies to me. He said, "Put those in your pocket and don't spend them. Your Granny and me just bought that wart."

I laughed and laughed, ran to tell my brother and sisters, and we laughed some more. Monday, I told all my school friends the story and on Tuesday, the wart was gone.

So, does anyone else have a story about "hillbilly" medicine or whatever name you know it by?

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schadenfreude

January 2025

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