Guest Opinion: Glass straws and paper dolls

Guest Column by Louise Shawkat, Ashland Daily Tidings, July 14 2017

When I had chicken pox, measles or the all-too-frequent severe sore throat, I had to stay home from school. My cradle was a double bed with four tall posts. I had so much fun cutting out paper dolls and hanging their fancy clothes on the lines I strung from one post to another. To soothe my aching body, Ma fixed cool drinks over ice with a clear glass straw. These straws lasted forever. Skipping ahead 50 years, while I was rummaging through a warehouse of medical supplies to take to an orphanage in Kenya, I had a eureka moment: I found a glass straw! I was delighted to find this obsolete and long-forgotten source of comfort.

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