i am too healthy

my nine year old niece agnes says this, after her mom says she is glad the kids are healthy. too healthy. her two little words strike a deep chord within me. i say, with simple curiosity, what do you mean by that? agnes says, hmmmm. i say, when i was little, i would wish that i would be sick, just sick enough to not go to school. as a matter of fact, the best seven days of my childhood were in the hospital. it was a serious ear infection which the doctor said it looked like poisoning from centipede bites. it wasn't a surprise to anyone since the family slept on a damp, rough concrete floor over a leaking corrugated roof. we cohabited with cockroaches, rodents and centipedes. as far as i am concerned, the pains are nothing compared to the luxurious comforts of sleeping in a clean bed. and my own bed, no less. i didn't have a proper bed, let alone my own bed, until my twenties. that's another story. anyway from my eye as a nine year old, hospital is heaven. i don't have to go to school. i can read the adventures of monkey king and other chinese immortals all day long. grandma makes little clay pots of rice and chicken for me. there are milk and cookies at night. so yes, i was really frustrated that i was so healthy that i didn't get sick more often.