Leg Aches

Recorded in my journal on March 28, 2023

When I was a child I would frequently get leg aches. It only happened at night time and they hurt so bad I would lay there and cry. My dad would come in to my bedroom or I would go into his bedroom and he would rub my legs. They stopped by the time I was maybe sixteen or seventeen but despite the pain at the time, I look back onto those nights when my dad rubbed my legs with fondness and warmth.

My parents always told me that they were growing pains and that makes sense to me because I was 6’2” when I was fourteen. So when my kids started getting leg aches I just assumed that this was normal. I also knew just what to do, I would rub their legs to get the blood flowing and to heat up the leg and it seemed to help. I had no idea that this ritual would have the same effect on them that it did on me. I also realize that night time leg aches are not all that normal. Let me share a thread of text messages that were exchanged in our family chat today.