I have these dragon bandaids that I purchased for a scratch I got on my face several months ago. I wore them to work where I got plenty of laughs from both patients and staff. Why would I wear a nude bandaid on my face? It blends into the skin and isn’t obvious. If there was the option for a fun experience, that makes people laugh, why not take it?

These bandaids make me feel silly and brave. Like how a little kid does when their parents tell them to stand as tall as they can, stretch their arms to the sky and say “soooo big”. I don’t know why it’s so important for me to have these little things in order to remind myself that my bravery comes from my childlike-ness.

When I was eight, I shattered all the bones in my wrist and elbow. I had surgery at a rural hospital in northern Minnesota. They placed four pins into and through my bones to help them mend and reorganize. Before I was wheeled to the surgery suite, a nurse let me pick out a stuffed animal. Teddy bear or tiger. I thought the tiger looked tough and more snuggly. I know they didn’t let me have him during the operation but when I woke up my tiger was under my arm. Every surgery since, I have wondered why I wasn't allowed to pick out a stuffed animal until after.

Pain is something I have been trying to understand since I was little. I know how important it is to feel pain, it lets your body know, in the simplest sense, that there’s something wrong. But it’s like the ‘remembrals’ from Harry Potter telling you you’ve forgotten something but not telling you what. The pain is just there, never welcome, never wanted, never understood or stripped down to one cause. And that’s probably what I hate most about pain: the complication that causes misunderstanding and lack of empathy. Just digging in the dirt looking for something that was buried in a different part of the yard. Productive in some sense, but not in the sense you need.

I keep my dragon bandaids in my fanny pack and more frequently than not a kiddo ends up in front of me. And sometimes, as happens a lot with clumsy and chubby little legs, the kiddo falls and gets an owie. My dragon bandaids always lead to a dried face and wide eyes, and I realize how important, though silly, something like a bandaid can become.

(happy day to my wee grandma <3)