Joseph the Respirator
by Juliana

For several nights, my breathing was labored and uncomfortable. I woke up several times each night struggling for breath. The back of my throat became increasingly dry and sore from breathing constantly through my mouth. It seemed that the more I blew my nose, the more stuffed up I became. My frustration level mounted.

As I was putting my two-year-old son, Joseph, to bed tonight, Joseph found the cure for my problem. He had just picked up the mini-basketball signed by Magic Johnson and was playing with it joyfully. I was talking to my husband, looking elsewhere, when Joseph made his move. He lifted the ball up and banged it right down onto my face, hitting me squarely on the right nostril.

“Ooouuuuuch, Joseph!” I complained and took the ball away from him. “Don’t hit people in the face,” I told him and decided that bedtime had been delayed long enough. I put him in his crib, gave him his stuffed polar bear, and put a blanket on top of him. I kissed him and told him I wasn’t angry with him, feeling the frustration and pain fading already.

As I walked out into the hallway, I noticed a strange sensation in my face. What was that? I wondered. I felt something warm oozing from my nose. My first thought was that Joseph had given me a bloody nose, but if anything my nose felt less painful than before, not more so. Then it dawned on me… Joseph had cleared up my nasal problem! With one well-aimed strike that I never would have attempted on myself, Joseph completely unclogged my troublesome nose. (Well, at least half of it.) I thought about asking him to clear out the other side for me, but decided it was best to leave him in bed. The question now is… Do I have guts to clear out the other side on my own…………?