The Alexander City Outlook

Spring can make you weep

After a long and abnormally cold winter, the end is in sight – color has returned to the world and my roommate and I have finally turned off the heat.

I’ve always loved spring – birds chirping, bright flowers, green grass. Unfortunately, most of the things that make me happy also turn me into a sneezing, itchy, sniffling mess from March through May each year.

I never had allergy problems until my sophomore year of college. But every year since then, I know when the weather warms up, I’ll be miserable. I’ve learned to start taking medication early rather than waiting for the allergies to really kick in.

Last spring, however, was different. March came without a single sneeze from me. I was extremely pleased with the new development and assumed I had cured myself through wishful thinking.

But that was before France. In April of 2009 I spent two weeks in France creating a magazine for an International Journalism class.

After only a day or two in Annecy, I decided I was getting sick, but my symptoms were minor so I decided to tough it out. I don’t like visiting the doctor in America and I was pretty sure that hadn’t changed on my transatlantic flight. Big mistake.

Four days later, we took a train south to Avignon and I, fittingly, looked like a train wreck. I could barely breathe thanks to congestion and tears were streaming down my face because my eyes were watering.

We dropped our bags at the hotel and took a bus into town. Walking down the Rue de la République, I saw the neon green cross I had been praying for since I boarded the train that morning.

I rushed into the pharmacy, only to find a line for the pharmacist. Finally, it was my turn at the counter. He glanced up and recoiled at my swollen, water face. “Eeeuhhh” was the first thing he said to me. Then, “Allergies?”

Luckily, he knew a little English, so with a brief conversation and lots of hand gestures, I left with three boxes of medication he swore would make me “good like new.”

He was right and I spent the next 10 days enjoying Avignon, Nice and Paris. And last week, when I felt that familiar tickle in my throat, I called the doctor right away.