Medicine and Surgery: Lindsay O. -2015

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A Day in The Life of the Apothecary’s Wife                                                           By: Lindsay O’Brien

I open my eyes, the sun streams through the windows, blinding me. I stumble out of bed in my shift, get my clothes on, and walk groggily downstairs.

I must introduce myself. I am the wife of the Apothecary, Robert North, and I help him with work. My name is Catherine North and I am 29 years old, and have four children. I am very lucky for a woman, instead of staying indoors all day sewing, I help my husband in the shop, grinding herbs for treatments that we have. I am also much stronger than a normal woman, I am often one of the people who holds down customers when they need something amputated.

Robert already must be at the shop, getting ready for today’s business. Walking in the kitchen, I slice the bread into thick slices spreading creamy butter over it, calling my eldest child, Eleanor, to help me. “Eleanor!” I call, hoping that she is awake.

“Yes Mother?” she asks, walking in the kitchen.

“Please set the table for five today, your father’s already left.” I am very proud of my daughter Eleanor, at the age of thirteen she is an accomplished young woman. Robert is thinking of marrying her off to a merchant went she reaches fifteen. I think of all of this when I am taking out the remaining muffins from yesterday morning. I hear the clink of the silverware against the wood of the table as I put the muffins in the pot over the fire, hoping I don’t burn them before they warm up.

I go upstairs, besides Eleanor and myself, no one is awake. Walking into the boy’s room, I wake Benjamin first, the elder boy, and if his father is to die one day, he will be the man of the house. Then James roles over, trying to deny the day as long as he can I suspect. When they finally drag themselves out of bed, I am already bustling to the girls room. I open the door, slowly, peering about the dark room, in the shadows, as if looking for a ghost.

In a way I am, my little girl Lucy, died at the age of seven a few months ago. She had not been looking when she was crossing the road. The rider tried to stop the mare, but the horse ran her over anyway. It was too late when we finally got to the doctor’s house. He said she had died the second the horse galloped over her, she had been dead.

I shuffle into the room, hoping that I don’t make a sound. Quietly I shake my youngest daughter, Eliza, awake. She moans, probably hoping she can stay in bed all day. “Hurry up” I say, opening the shutter. I walk quickly down the stairs. I set the muffins on the table, and Eleanor calls the children.

I hurry out the door after setting the girls on dish washing. Soon, the girls will leave for their class with Miss Deliverance Smith, they are learning how to be gentlewomen. As for boys, they are going over to Mister Warringtons house for lessons. I practically run to the shop, hiking up my skirts to halfway to my shins, scandalis! All of the people on Duke of Gloucester Street turn to stare at me, who is running like a mad woman to the Apothecary.

I burst through the door of the shop, stopping just inside the doorway. The smell of the room is always tinged with the stronger smelling herbs. Lavender, mint, lemongrass, and this is just what I need with my heavy breathing. I lift my gaze to my husband who’s already measuring and grinding herbs.

“The Governor’s errand boy already stopped by, he will be picking up a bottle of the ground white willow bark,” he says, I sigh. The Governor’s errand boy is a regular customer. He comes to pick up white willow bark, a substance that will relieve the pain of a headache.

“Also, there will be an amputation today,” I sigh, I always hate these days. There so much blood, shouting and pain. I take my apron off of the hooks behind the counter and put it on. Well, It’s another day at the shop.

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About Lindsay

Hi my name is Lindsay, and I'm studying Water Pollution, specifically how plastic effects the environment, marine life, and humans. I'm interested in this topic because water is a vital thing on our planet, and by polluting it we, and all other creatures, are dying.