Journal Theme: Infatuation and Love

From the Journal of Maddy Sisson:

“Upon arriving at the Little Seamstress’s home, we were pleased to learn that her father was on one of his trips. ...Luo’s face was flushed a deep crimson:he was delirious. The Little Seamstress was shocked to see the ravages wrought by his fevers. She promptly cancelled the oral cinema show and installed Luo in her room, on her bed… She rolled her long pigtail into a high chignon on the top of her head. Then she took off her pink shoes and ran outside, barefoot.

…she called out to me. “I know a very good remedy for him.”

It was a common plant,growing on the banks of a little stream, not far from her village. ...The medicinal properties were concentrated in the angular spiky leaves shaped like ducks’ feet, of which the Little Seamstress gathered large quantities.

...She pounded the leaves in a white stone mortar until they were reduced to a thick greenish paste, which she proceeded to smear on Luo’s left wrist. Although still feverish, he had recovered a certain rationality and willingly let her apply the poultice. She bound it up with a long strip of white linen.” -Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie

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When I was 17 I began dating McKinley. I can honestly say that I have never felt as close to someone or needed someone as badly as I need him. I don’t think that he even knows how important he is to me, I love him. In fact I’m in love with him.

McKinley once told me that his favorite memory of our relationship occurred during the first couple of weeks into us being together. McKinley had texted me one night, and told me that he had thrown up and he was pretty sure that he was sick. I didn’t see the message until I’d woken up the next morning. I went over to his house shortly after that I learned that he was ill. It turned out that a few people who attended the same dinner party as us the past weekend, and had passed it on to McKinley. The sickness was awful. It was a virus with flu-like symptoms, such as, vomiting, fever, weakness, little to no appetite, and claminess. I felt horrible for him; he was in so much pain and he was so uncomfortable, which left me feeling useless in helping him overcome the virus, but I tried my best. I went to his house everyday he was sick and would lay with him to keep him warm, or sing to him to ease his pain, and I would make him food even despite his almost nonexistent appetite; I took care of him the best way that I knew of, much as the Little Seamstress had for Luo. Slowly, McKinley became more energetic, he gained an appetite again, he was able to have a more regulated body temperature without being buried beneath blankets, and eventually he came back to his full health. That is what love is to me. Love is taking care of someone else and putting their needs before your own in times of need. I think that that is why this passage from the book stood out to me most, because I do think that the Little Seamstress really did love Luo, and that scene proves her love for him. She ended up choosing to love herself as well though, as I did in my choice to move away from the person I love most in order to explore myself, and understand who I am or who I would like to be, because to me that is a necessity as well.

Works Cited

Sijie, D. Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress. New York: Random House, 2001

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