Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1882-01-26
Don't Forget the Sick.
BY ETHEL O. GALE.

"Siok and 10 prison." Does it ever occur
to those fortunate ones. who, if not always
perfectly well, can at least "gird them.
solves ond go whittier they will" that If
sick, ono is virtually ia prison also! That
no fettcrs arc heavier than the wearyius
monotony Of days and nights spent in one
room, shut in from new faces hearing 40
now voices, seeing no new sight, breathing
10 new air, hearing no new thing. We
arc not now, of course, referring to half
way invalids-however much they, too,
may deserve our pity who can walk from
room to room, who can select for them
selves book from the shelves aud do not
have to wait on hour for some ono to come
who can hand them spool of thread from
n neighboring table; who can receive the
visits Of friends and drive
out on fino days. Nor do we rofer to the
dangerously i'll, the very activity Of whose
diseases furnishes sufficient, though q
dreadful employment for tho body aud mind.
But rather to the lingering oonvalescent. or
tho ohronio invalid over whom weary
months drag weighted chain of long
drawn hours.
II ia not easy to obey the injunction of
our hcadiug, not to forgot these sick ones
There scoms so little We can do for them.
They are out of our daily paths; and do
not by aouto suffering demand our sym
pathetic exertious. II wo oalI upon them
and they are not able to zoe US, we ore
apt to thiuk that they desire nothing Of
US; and, whilc wondering little at their
whimsical tasto for solitude, pass on our
way, somewhat rcleved--if the truth must
be told-at finding, or thiukipg We find,
that nothing more is required of US.
Out of sight is out Of mind, and it will
require an effort to remember the sick
whom we do not SEQ. But lot US make
this effort as we would mako On effort to do
any other deed Of Christian chnrity.
Ii we remember the sick, it is on easy
thing to show them that we do 80. It
requires but an occasional flower; the loan
OF picture or book; the gift of bunch
an interesting paragraph from newspaper;
the sending Of bit of news; the prcsont
of pair of soft slippers, or tiny bottle Of
perfume, suggestions for new sort Of
light employment, suitable for fingers easily
tired; letter written without expectation
of reply; any tri0e, 10 short, which brings
bit OF freshness from the outside world
within tho compass Of tho four dull walls.
1t is not the value of tho thing given that
imparts the pleasure; but tho frequency
and tho variety Of tho small things and
the certainty of remembrance which they
convey.
10 show what little things may give
great pleasure We will mention two or three
instances that have happened within our
knowledge.
TO an invalid boy, comic almanac is.
sued as an advertisement by dry goods
firm, 'ond sent by friend who picked it up,
afforded amuscmcnt for several days. An-
other invalid was made happy by the Ger
tainty that o1oe week she should receive
from distant FREUD an envelope CONTAIN,
ing ono of The pretty Illuminated cards
now found in overy bookstore 1t was II
constant pleasure to her to look at the last
pictured sfowcr, to compare it with nature,
and to wonder what the next one would be.
To another invalid an immense amount of
pleasure was given for many weeks by tho
thoughtful gift of an editor personally un
known to her. lie gathered into big
bundle and sent it by express, tho odd
newspapers and magaziucs, together with Il
few novels Qhe last to DO rcturucd) which
were the accumulation of mouth in his
office. Many of the papers had been
'fscissored," but that interfcred little with
the delight Of tho invalid thus brought III
CONTACT with all sorts of minds and our
rents of thought, from Canada to tho
Gulf; from Maine to Oregon; aud even
from 'oyer tho sea-" communist, spirit.
ualist, atheist, Roman Catholic aud Pro-
testant; with lawyer, c'el eynun, farmer,
merchant, mechanic, miner, explorer,
scientist; with all sorts of literary style,
from that of the Edinburgh Rcvic,o and OF
the Revue dc Dcuc Aondcs to that of tho
1erds Scare Cro,o aud the Rocky Moun-
tan Bfaster, variety infinitely greater
than ordinarily come under the observation
OF any ono not au haJttuc OF some publ,
cation Office with many Exchanges"
Probably that thoughtful .cditor-who
must sometime have been himself an in
valid, or intimately associated with one
will never know the relief from munotony
the glad rush of outside uir, that his bun
die OF Old newspapers and odd numbers Of
magazines carried in to that sick room
Sending tho old papers to Lospit1s ha.
been often recommended. Beiicv. US
kind souls who like 10 soaltcr flowers by the
wayside, such things ofton arc not lass no
ceptablc in private sick rooms even of tht
"ealthy, whence they can afterwards be
sent to hospital wards, with the addition
ot such as may belong to the family of til,
invalid, for fellow feeling will make the
s'ok one glad to pnss on the pleasure.
But after all il is not the special way If
which it is shown, but the remembrance