​Soothing a boil does not prompt a career in medicine

While browsing Grandpa Ritchie’s diaries, I stopped at this entry.



Obviously, stormy weather and maladies, such as the flu, were not the only events that kept children and teachers out of the classroom.

Saturday the 17th, Grandpa’s comment notes: “Still in bed. Doctor out in afternoon. Boil bursts about 2:30.”

By Sunday after dinner, he was able to get up but did not return to school until Wednesday. That day was so stormy that he had only one scholar; so he went home.

I wish he had mentioned what home remedies his mother used. They may very well have been one of the ones I was familiar with on two occasions.

In the early 1960s, when I was home from university for the weekend, I often spent time with Alex Walton (below) and his best chum, Fred Morgan (later Gail’s husband) and his girlfriend. The boys lived near one another on opposite sides of Victoria Street in Kincardine. Alex lived with his mother and grandmother.



At some point, Alex developed an extremely painful boil on one hand. I was called upon to administer bread poultices regularly until it finally healed.

In 1961, I was fortunate to attend summer school in Trois Pistoles. Along with three other girls, I boarded with the Fortin family. We enjoyed Madame’s hearty meals and the company of her four children. Marc Andre, the second oldest son, became our almost constant companion after classes. He led us on long climbs to the cross on the peak of the hill behind the town. He invented rowdy games of catch in the street with the neighbour kids and cards around the kitchen table, and then introduced us to ice cream sodas at the small restaurant.

Here are Marc Andre (right) and his chum, Lise (I think).

When he developed a nasty boil on his hand, his mother was quite worried. Seeing a doctor was not usually done, for finances were tight. So, I collected a pan, milk, a slice of bread and a clean cloth and applied a bread poultice. For several days, Marc Andre managed to stay still long enough for healing to begin and soon he was “right as rain.”

A second success did nothing to steer me toward a career in medicine.

October, 2025
Ruth Anne Hollands Robinson