SHOWER CURTAINS #6

While taking an innocent shower in her tub that had a straight shower curtain rod instead of a bowed shower curtain rod; a piece of the wet plastic curtain reached over and tickled and bit Thelma Thornton on the back of her neck and upper back. She brushed this away and then again the tickles and bites… a little more severe. This time she slapped at this intrusion and tried to stop it and while slapping hit the wet curtain and it wrapped around her head and started to choke her. She screamed for help but what help can a Cocker Spaniel give in a moment like this.

The physiatrist was to learn through many sessions with Thelma that she had two past issues that sparked this panic: one was several attacks of chiggers while playing outside with her little brothers back in grade school in Jackson, Mississippi, and the other was the same mean little brothers who used to sneak up on Thelma and cruelly tickle her with pieces of grass and straw. So the shower curtain incident became chiggers and tickling and remembered pain.

Thelma no longer takes showers. She had a walk-in bathtub installed in an open area in her spare bedroom where nothing could touch her while bathing. She hardly uses any water and each bath takes about two minutes and forty five seconds, then to the safety of the towel while leaving her phone on the entire time to talk to a friend while she bathes. With a new regimen of meds and the new tub… she is doing a lot better now.

No, really that’s what happened.

“And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” Jesus