I think I feel a cold coming on...

Even when we were small, whenever my brother or sister or I got sick, my mother would make a Fanny’s Fixer. Fanny was my grandmother and she made them for my mother and her sisters too, when they were small.

The ingredients are pictured above. Hot tea (black), honey, lemon and a shot of whiskey or bourbon. My mother’s preference was to use Canadian Club. As a kid I hated them. Fanny’s Fixers were always offered right before bed when needed. I would wince at each zip thinking it was the worst concoction I had ever tasted. Mom always encouraged me to drink it all. I did my best but it was not a pleasurable experience. Of course, the fixer knocked me right out and I slept through the night and, if memory serves me right, I was a lot better in the morning. (Mom also rubbed whiskey on our gums when we were teething, as her Mom had done for her and her siblings, and as I did for my son.)

But I must admit, it took me well into adulthood before I fully understood the underestimated value of a Fanny’s Fixer as a preventative elixir. Hmmm…I think I feel a cold coming on.