Beginnings
A few years ago, I woke up in the middle of the night and could not breath through my nose. A sore throat, headache, popping ears and and a tickle in my throat that led to uncontrollable coughing got me out of bed so I wouldn't wake my family. I went to the bathroom and blew my nose. I considered taking a pill but I had to be at work in 4 hours and I hated the way cold medicine made me feel. Instead I drank some water and without really thinking, walked out to my woodshop, found a dust mask and put it on. My nose was very dry inside and I liked the way the warm, moist air felt in the one nostril that was now open. I sat down on the porch and tried to relax with slow, deep breathing.
I began thinking about the busy day I had ahead of me in a few hours. I was the manager of a small garden shop and it was springtime. There were plant deliveries, a marketing meeting and a couple of interviews awaiting me. Still sitting on the porch, I noticed that the tickle and coughing had stopped and so I returned to bed to try to get a couple of hours of sleep. I was awakened in the morning by my wife who was startled to see me wearing a mask. I was trying to explain myself when I suddenly realized that I felt great - no sore throat, headache, coughing or stuffy nose. I quickly minimized the events of the previous night, however, and felt embarrassed at the thought of wearing a dust mask to bed. In the rearview mirror I noticed deep creases in my face from the hard edges of the mask which made me self conscious on my way to work. I tried to forgot about the whole experience.
A few months later, I found myself sitting behind my wife's sewing machine. After a few more 'dust mask' evenings during which my cold and allergy symptoms had subsided, I was obsessed with making something more comfortable and effective. Despite being ribbed by my family over my 'sleeping shirt' as I called it, I knew I had stumbled onto something that I wanted to share with them and now with you.
This morning I woke up to find my wife wearing a HumidiTee - a name my daughter came up with!!
