GIFT OF LIFE
12月
10日
Gift of family
UMBILICAL CORD TEA
By Sam Goto
I was eight-years-old and living in Bully Creek, Oregon. We lived in a house Dad built on to an old chicken coop. This was before WWII – no electricity, no plumbing, an outside privy; but I have many memories of the place.
One memory is the time I was going through Mom’s medicine box. It contained Japanese herbal cures like “gorin” (small BB size silver pellets), a piece of brown root that had a medicinal odor that was shaved for tea.
The thing that interested me most was a dried up piece of something, light brown, wrapped in cellophane that looked like dried up cuttlefish. I remember asking Mom about it and she said: “It is your UMBILICAL CORD, saved especially for you. If you ever get real sick, we can make tea out of it and it will make you well!”
I never saw it after that or ever needed it. Maybe there was something to it. Stem cells are now being studied by scientists – Stem Cells?
Umbilical cord traditions in Japan:
In Japanese culture, many believe that the umbilical cord directly impacts the baby's health. So, when a mother gives birth in Japan, the hospital will usually give her a special box to preserve the cord after it falls from the baby's belly button.
