After reading a post at Word Play yesterday, it reminded me of an incident from my childhood involving a bike too.
When I was about 6 years old, I had a beautiful blue 2 wheeler that I rode everywhere I wanted to go. Most of my friends also had 2 wheelers & since we were in a fairly new development, we had lots of room for riding on the bays & avenues of our neighborhood. One of my good friends Donna had a 2 wheeler with balloon tires while all the rest of us had regular tires. On a sunny spring day, Donna & I decided we would trade bikes for a while so both of us could get the experience of different tires.
Donna lived kitty-corner behind my house on a bay & we went off riding on the bay. We pedaled faster & faster. Soon we were racing & agreed the finish line would be Donna’s driveway just around the next corner. Donna was riding in the middle of the road & I was riding closer to the curb. As we rounded the corner, Donna’s bike skidded on a patch of sand leftover from the winter streets. I could feel the bike starting to slide out from under me & there was nothing I could do about it! The last thing I remember was crying out.
The next thing I knew I was looking up into the face of Mike our paper boy (the boy I had such a crush on, who wouldn’t even consider looking at me because he was 14 & I was only 6) as he was carrying me down the street. All the young girls in our neighborhood had a crush on Mike & I’m sure Donna was so jealous, watching Mike carrying me. If I hadn’t just regained consciousness I think I would have swooned. All too soon, Donna’s dad appeared & took me from Mike’s arms.
Donna’s dad carried me through his garage, into his back yard & to the 6 foot fence dividing our neighbor’s property from his. My dad was there & I was passed over the fence & Dad rushed me into our house. I must have passed out again because the next thing I knew my Dad was trying to get me onto my mother’s lap in the front seat of our Volkswagen Beetle. My mother was crying & holding a cloth to my forehead. I gathered from their conversation we were on our way to the doctor’s office.
The next thing I knew I was on the doctor’s examination table with a very big needle headed for my head. I ended up with stitches through my eyebrow, holding my head together (or so I felt) & a concussion. On doctor’s orders, I was to be kept awake for as long as possible & when I went to bed that night I needed to be woken every hour & checked. I know I didn’t enjoy the next 24 hours & I can only imagine what my parents went through. I was supposed to go back about a week later & have the stitches removed, but I picked them out in my sleep 2 days later. You should have heard my mother scream when she came in to wake me up & my pillow & head was covered in blood!
So, I ended up with a scar right through my left eyebrow & 12 years later when I was in a motorcycle accident, it was discovered I had also broken my pelvis at the time of my bike accident which had healed incorrectly.
But for the 3 minutes I was in Mike’s arms, I would say it was all worth it!
sandylikeabeach
Oct 03, 2012 @ 06:57:40
What a sweet story! Thanks for sharing.
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benzeknees
Oct 03, 2012 @ 08:24:33
Thanks, it was a fond & painful memory at the same time.
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buckwheatsrisk
Oct 03, 2012 @ 08:32:58
Wow that is quite a story!
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benzeknees
Oct 03, 2012 @ 13:37:32
And all true!
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Tilly Bud - The Laughing Housewife
Oct 03, 2012 @ 10:59:04
Absolutely!
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benzeknees
Oct 03, 2012 @ 13:39:29
Thanks for stopping by Linda! I hope since I stopped following & re-subscribing, it’s gotten easier for you to find me.
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Tilly Bud - The Laughing Housewife
Oct 03, 2012 @ 13:48:54
Nope. Still had to Google your blog name.
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benzeknees
Oct 03, 2012 @ 14:14:40
Any ideas? I don’t know what else to do.
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Chris Sheridan
Oct 04, 2012 @ 20:04:00
Really enjoyed your bicycle story Lynda. But that 8 year age difference, especially between age 14 and 6 can be a very high hurdle to overcome. At least you got to be in the arms of your crush, even if it did come at the cost of a head injury. And I can imagine your poor mother’s reaction when she saw you after pulling the stitches out. Parents sure don’t have it easy.
You broke your pelvis? That must have been a very high impact bike crash! You were in a motorcycle accident? I’m scared of those things! I’ll take a 70s muscle car that I can crash into stone walls instead every time, because it greatly improves my chances for survival. Or at least it did back in the day, before I became old and boring. Lol
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benzeknees
Oct 05, 2012 @ 01:59:19
I could tell you some stories Chris! I was actually in 2 motorcycle accidents because I lived on the back of a motorcycle from the age of 15 to 20.
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Chris Sheridan
Dec 02, 2012 @ 19:36:00
Here’s what I was looking for, since I never forgot your reply, and I filed it away for future inquiry. You lived on the back of a motorcycle from the age of 15 to 20? Hmm… sounds like you could tell me some stories. Think you might ever blog about your experiences from this time of your life?
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benzeknees
Dec 02, 2012 @ 21:26:09
I think it’s a distinct possibility! Must remember to put a reminder in my blog ideas file.
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El Guapo
Oct 04, 2012 @ 20:09:14
Great story! My childhood is littered with incidents like this.
Well, without the paperboy…
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benzeknees
Oct 05, 2012 @ 02:00:25
I’ve only just gotten started Guapo! I may do more posts on all the trials & tribulations of me growing up, so I won’t go into it here. Hope you are feeling better every day!
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