Sometimes it’s only in retrospect that you see the patterns. I will relay this incident from my original perspective and then ask you to reconsider it in light of newly discovered information.
It was 1965. I was in the third grade. It was beautiful autumn day. The kind of day that starts out crisp but moves to sunny and warm by the afternoon. The students, at Brooklyn Elementary School, were taking their morning recess and the playground was teaming with children swinging on swings, climbing monkey bars and riding teeter-totters. These were the days when a playground was a mixture of concrete, gravel and steel. By today’s standards it was almost industrial. But this was before liability lawsuits produced a kinder, gentler American playground.
The teeter-totters, of the good old days, were massive boards that mounted on big steel pipes. The teeter-totter designers recognized that not all children were of equal size so the teeter-totter board had multiple center-point settings. You could shift the teeter-totter, to accommodate unequal loads. About 18 inches from each end, a metal handle was mounted to the wood.
We were particularly fond of giving “bumps.” This usually involved a larger person on one end of the teeter-totter. As the larger person was coming down, he or she made no attempt to stop the teeter-totter from hitting the ground. When that end of the teeter-totter came smashing down, the lighter rider would be jolted into the air, like a rodeo cowboy, with only their frantic grip on the cold, metal handle preventing them from being launched into space.
On this particular morning there were four of us on the teeter-totter, two on each end. Teresa and a playmate were on one end and I and another friend, rode the other. My side out-weighed Teresa’s side so we made the necessary adjustments to the center-point, extending Teresa’s side to give the light end more leverage. It was a wonderful time. I would smash my end into the ground, Teresa, in her bright little school dress, would fly into the air. She looked like a rag doll whose hands were tethered to the metal handle.
Now this may seem hard to believe, but someone got hurt. Teresa was unable to completely recover from being nearly thrown off, and on the down stroke, her ankle got caught under the teeter-totter. I hopped down, leaving only one person on my end. Teresa’s end came down and I ran around to see how badly she was hurt. Her friend was sitting behind her, and when I bent over to examine Teresa’s ankle, they both slid back, off the teeter-totter.
As you may recall, there was still one person on the other end of the teeter-totter. The forces of gravity prevailed and the unoccupied end of the see-saw lifted, abruptly, off the ground, quickly accelerating, until it reached an obstruction: my forehead. The force of the collision sent me sailing through the air. As I completed my arc, from teeter-totter to earth, I looked up into the into the bright, morning sky, and oddly enough, saw stars.
I crawled over to the teacher, on playground duty, who had not yet noticed me. I got to my feet and tried to get her attention, “Mrs. Barkheimer…” I stammered in a pitiful voice. She was in an animated conversation with another student, “…Mrs. Barkheimer…” Still no response, her head was turned away, but her body langage suggested that she was ignoring my rude interruption. “MRS. BARKHEIMER!” I blurted out. “John, can’t you see I’m…” She never finished her sentence. As her eyes focused on me, she stopped short and gasped. She took me by the shoulders and steered me to the principals office where there was a makeshift infirmary, and sat me on a chair.
The knot on my head grew until it became a thing of wonder. The school staff filed by, staring in amazement, wagging their heads, and clucking their tongues. The discussion centered on determining whether or not I had a concussion. I was warned not to go to sleep. If I had a concussion and went to sleep "I WOULD DIE!" Shortly after the discussion on death and dying, they called Mom and told me to walk home. I can only assume that they reasoned I couldn't fall asleep if I was walking the two blocks to my house.
This wasn't all bad. I got the day off School! When I showed up at home, my knot was large enough to astound even my mother, a woman who had seen many a serious injury in her day. She called Glenna Jean Rassmussen, our back-door neighbor, to tell her I would be coming by to show her my knot and then sent me on my way. Mrs. Rassmussen was equally impressed. I walked home and, tired from all the walking, sat in a big chair and fell asleep. Mom woke me up a couple of times, to make sure I wasn’t dead and, later, I spent the afternoon goofing around in the back yard.
It wasn’t until years later that I learned my sweet little sister, Teresa, had a dark-side. She once lured Joe off the tree-house ladder by holding a piece of candy just out of his reach. Joe plummeted to earth, breaking his arm!
Is it possible that Teresa had planned the teeter-totter incident? Feigning injury to lure me to her side, then sliding off when my head was in just the right spot?
I have presented my case. I leave it to you, the jury to decide.
2 comments:
Ok, I remember this day, though, unlike you, there’s somewhat of a haze that shrouds my recollection.
I cannot recollect the actual mechanics of the events leading to your injury, but I do recall an overwhelming sense of guilt as I saw your injury evolve and saw the reaction of the adults.
I do recall thinking that the lump on your head and the partial permanent loss of brain function that ensued might somehow have been my fault, but let’s not forget our Catholic roots which caused us to always look at the world thru a veil of guilt. Until I was old enough to sort it out, I felt partially responsible for ALL things wrong. World War II might even have been partially my fault.
I will admit, that I was given to impulsive acts. That little voice in people’s head that advises them to “stop” before doing something that may have a bad outcome wasn’t always operational in my head. For example, I DID lure Joseph to reach further and further for the candy until he fell from the tree. I DID in the grade school cafeteria fling a spoonful of corn into the beehive hairdo of a lunchroom monitor. I DID sharpen the peppermint candy stick to a very fine point and poke Clarence in the neck while he was driving and I a back seat passenger.
Recall also, that you, John, had a history of various acts of bedevilment towards my sister and myself. Perhaps there were mitigating circumstances.
To answer the inquiry; It may or may not have been intentional. If it was, you likely had it coming. I think, however, the statute of limitations applicable.
I rest my case.
Signed, The sister you formerly on occasion referred to as “Buckey” but hey I’ve let go of it………
Teresa
John, Even if this post is a little old, I want to comment since I was a neighbor of yours in Wisconsin, not Brooklyn, IN, and knew you and Theresa and all the family.
Having read both yours and Theresa's side, and knowing you both, I think that even though little sister might have wanted a little playful get-back to older brother (what are sisters for?), I cannot believe she would want to see you come home with a huge bump on the head. My reason is mainly that she would know that either your Mom or Dad could give her a good lickin'!. Besides, in spite of all, she has a sweet side.
Your Silver Lake St. Neighbor,
Dan
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