When I was 8 years old, my dad used to give us quinine tablets every day. He believed in preventative medicine before people knew what that meant. We always had a big bottle of quinine tablets in the middle of our big round kitchen table.

At breakfast each morning, my brother and I had to swallow one of those evil tasting tablets before we could have anything to eat. This was in 1940 and a lot of people in East Texas took quinine tablets because of all the mosquitoes.

I couldn??™t understand why I had to take these pills in the winter time when there were no mosquitoes, but dad said we had to and that made it law. While Dad took his pill each morning, I noticed that mother never touched the evil things. But I knew enough not to say anything about it. But that??™s a whole ???nother story for a different time.

Now Dad had another belief that he imposed on us. On the first week end of March each year, we would go to the woods and find some sassafras saplings and dig up some of the roots. We would take them home, and mother would boil them and make a strong tea.

You see, dad thought that every spring your system needed a good flushing out. He said after a winter of staying inside so much, we were full of germs and we had to flush out the germs.

So we had to drink a big cup of that sassafras tea and believe me, it flushed out everything in you. In fact it turned you wrong side out! Each person in the family had his own roll of toilet paper.

After that spring ritual, we were supposed to be in good health until the next winter. I guess it must have worked because I never got sick in the summer time. But I sure hated to see the first week end of march roll around each year.

Loren Moore
?© 2001