CARE
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Gargling with warm salt water seems to be my mom's (maybe all moms, too) golden remedy for any throat-related or cold-like symptoms. As I got older and moved away to live by myself, she would still say that whenever she feels that I'm sick. So I learned to not call my parents if I am actually sick, and if I feel like I am almost getting sick or I might sound like I am sick, I would postpone the call for a few days and gargle with every meal.
I can't really say how effective this seemingly characterless thing is, sometimes I even think that its psychological effect is probably stronger than the actual physical one. It became a ritual of self-care when my mom is not around me, a reflection of my mom's care, but also my care towards my parents in terms of not wanting them to worry about me.
This care later on would extend towards my friends, whenever someone gets or sounds sick, I would tell them to gargle with warm salt water, as if their parents had never told them before. Salt water not only bridges my parents' care towards me with my care for them, it also helped me transition into my constructed sense of family, reflected in the friends that I care for.
Gargling salt water, and that lingering pain afterwards, are certainly not enjoyable. But it is precisely in enduring such pain, the affection and bliss in caring and being cared for can be contrasted and felt.
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