Bath at noon time

I read in the paper the other day that bathing at noon time (between 11 in the morning and 1 in the afternoon) on the day of the Dragon Boat Festival is supposed to be healing for the body. Today happens to be the summer solstice, a period of time when the "yang" (positive/male) energy is at it's most potent in any given year.

Traditionally, people would collect rain water and use it to bathe or cook. But according to the International Taoist Association (yes, there is such a thing...) you can also use tap water to cleanse the body, as long as the water is collected between the named hours.

So I asked the nurse if mum could have a bath today. Initially, she said she'll try to fit things in, as the ward is short of people given that it's a public holiday. But a few moments later she came back and said to be ready at 1pm.

"Could we do it at 12.55?" I asked, and explained the tradition I just found out in the paper. The nurse hadn't heard of it before, but she was amused and agreed to come a few minutes earlier.

We went back into the special bathroom, and mum was quiet, but quietly pleased. It's definitely the best bit of her days at the hospice ward. The carer and nurse helped undress her, and I handed them two little towels to cover up the "vital" bits. And then followed another half an hour of touching and relaxing experience.

Brother stood at one end and tested the water temperature and rubbed mum's feet, while I massaged mum's head with shampoo as the carer and nurse washed the rest of her body. Mum closed her eyes, and had another look of utter enjoyment and bliss on her face.

"I've never seen two boys want to help their mother bathe. It's so touching..." the nurse said. I smiled, and got out my iPhone and asked her to take pictures of us. Later in the evening, I inadvertently saw on the nurse's mobile workstation that the day nurse had left a report on mum's condition for the night nurse. On the report was the following sentence:

"Special event: First son and second son bathed with patient, took pictures to remember the happy experience."

After a long bath, head scrub and "deep facial cleansing", mum was wheeled back to her room. We massaged her with lotion, blow-dried her hair, and I applied moisturiser on her face. Again, the nurse commented that she's never seen two children who are as attentive as we are. That made my brother and me smile.

Mum's skin felt clean and smooth again, and her eye lids were heavy. After a long bath, who would not want a nice nap?

"Sleep, mama, sleep..." I said and stroke her arm gently while I patted her head, "Sleep well..."