Join with me as I embark on a 31-Day Writing Challenge! Inspired by Lisa-Jo and created by the Nester, this exercise takes writers on a journey to write on one topic for 31 days straight.

Me? I’m attempting to go through our journey and countdown 31 things I used to have to do for Danny, that I don’t have to anymore. This exercise has already taken me down roads I haven’t traveled in my mind in quite some time. It has, and will allow me to be reminded just how far we really have come since August 16, 2005.

11. Bed Baths

Bed baths are not as romantic as Hollywood would like to make them.

Lying naked on plastic bed pads, in a hospital bed, in the middle of the living room is not exactly what dreams are made of.

Danny was so skinny at that time and had no muscles. It was sad. He was sick.

But he needed to be clean.

For the most part, me and Danny’s mom would wash him, taking turns-one to hold and the other to scrub. We’d change the water in the small tubs, and make sure to dry him quickly so he wouldn’t get too cold.

Danny was (is) blessed. The two women who love him most in the world have done everything imaginable to help him get well.

Danny was never dirty. He never slept on dirty sheets or in a dirty brief. He never had any bed sores or pressure sores. We did whatever we thought was the best for him and I’m not sure how we survived.

Giving a thorough bed bath takes a long time.

After washing, rinsing and drying, we’d moisturize and deodorize. We’d powder and put fresh everything on him. It took at least an hour, at least.

I have one hospital-issued pink plastic tub left. I think about throwing it away all the time, but then think I may just need it for something.

It, too, serves as a reminder of those things we don’t have to use anymore-a small marker in the road to recovery, a place we’ve passed and hope to never return.