There comes a time in life when a person acquires a pill case.
That time has come for me. I used to think pill cases were only for old people or the very ill who took lots of meds daily or for those who are supplement-crazed.
It’s true I’m trending older, but I take only one prescription medication, and just three times a week. I pop a daily low-dose aspirin, and not having seen much sun this winter I try to take Vitamin D.
My routine was easy enough to remember. Every evening I’d fetch what I needed from the cabinet, opening each bottle and shaking out what I needed, and then scanning the floor for what I might have dropped.
I hadn’t thought about using a pill case until we had a few extras around after my beloved mother-in-law, Phyllis, passed away earlier this year. I felt as if I were honoring her by using one of hers.
Mine is a simple case, with a snap door for each day of the week. But I’ve discovered there’s a huge variety and price range in the pill case market. Cases with AM/PM compartments, or with four compartments for each day. Cases with hatches and cases with magnetic slides and cases with buttons to open the doors for people with arthritic fingers. There are smart pill dispensers with automatic reminders. Cases that don’t look like pill cases for those who want to be discreet. Round cases with compartments like pie slices and rectangular cases with compartments the size of bug coffins. Cases that cost four dollars and designer cases that cost over one hundred dollars.
I’ve grown quite fond of my bare-bones case. It has made things easier because I don’t have to rummage in the cabinet every night looking for the bottles I need. It sits in the drawer like a tiny plastic life coach whispering, Look at you, responsibly managing your medications and supplements.
But I’ve discovered something disconcerting when the time comes every week to fill the case again: the weeks fly by. Oh, do they fly fast! It seemed like just a couple of days ago I filled the case, but it’s been an entire week. How could that be?
There’s no slowing down time. And the pill case is a reminder to me of how fast it all goes.
