Mysterious Disease

I never mentioned it to her, don’t know if anybody did; the fact that she didn’t look the same after she finally recovered.. I don’t know how old I was when Mama turned very sick with such a strange disease and even stranger name. “Arasyplis” was what I thought they said. I couldn’t find it there under “A” when I searched the doctor book. I knew I probably had the spelling wrong; maybe it started with the letter “E”. I found it there and started reading.. “Erysipelas, a dangerous skin disease.” I almost closed the book, not sure I wanted to read about it, afraid it would say my mama would die. “ Caused by Streptococcus bacterium.” I quickly closed the door. “Inflammation and swelling of the skin”. I’d be in trouble if they found me there, not wanting me to know. “Sometimes spreads rapidly, ending in death.“ My mama was going to die and I wondered what would happen to us. Could Papa take care of us without Mama? My sister and my baby brother were both still so very small. I wished that I had never learned to read and didn’t know how sick my mama was, from her dreadful disease. Mama’s face swelled beyond recognition and every night I prayed to God she’d live. I didn’t tell anyone what I had discovered. Our little town had no hospital then. The doctor came each day and a nurse stayed to take care of her. My Mama did get better and the swelling went away, but she never looked the same. I wonder if she knew.