Let's Start From the Beginning

Life is so busy, and I rarely find time to write anymore (journals have never been my thing), but this blog idea has been stirring in the back of my mind for some time, and there's no better time than the present to get going. Right? Right. 

I thought it would be fun to just randomly write some of the fun, interesting, exciting, dull, scary, awful, crazy things that have happened in my life - from my earliest memories to my most current memories. Maybe one day I'll even do one of those "blogs in a book" when it's all said and done and have my own personal history completely written. Then, all those naysayers who think I don't do my own genealogy will get off my back. Not that anyone has really referenced my lack of doing genealogy, but those on the other side are frustrated with me, I'm sure. I digress .... 

Let's start from the beginning then, shall we? This is the story of one of the first memories I have, and it happened when I was three. Man, I'm getting old. 

First, it would be helpful to know that one of my best friends of all time is Shauna Leifson (now Leavitt). She was born nine months and 27 days after me. We have never not known each other. Yes, I know that was a double negative! Anyway, we went to school together, we grew up together, and our backyards were connected by a hole in a fence. Why would we ever walk around the corner to each other's houses when the hole in the fence was there? 

Little did I know at the time (hello ... I was only three) that Shauna was my bad luck charm. It seems like, looking back, every time I got injured in some way she was there. Not that she caused the injury, you see, just that she happened to be in the vicinity when it happened. We laugh about it now, and we're still the best of friends. So no hard feelings about this earliest of memories, okay? 

One summer day I was over at Shauna's house playing. I'm sure we were in her mother's hair and driving her crazy. We were creative little stinkers that stayed busy all the time. Maybe my mom had shunned me to Shauna's house that day? I'll have to check with her on that. We decided it would be fun to play outside (or we were told to go outside and play - not really sure which of those is more accurate). Shauna's aunt Colleen was there visiting Shauna's mom, and her car was parked outside in the driveway. If that wasn't an invitation to play inside the car I don't know what was! 

The car was unlocked. Or it might not have even had locks. Another unclear detail. Either way, we got in the car. Shauna got in the passenger's side, and, because I was older and would have a license first, I got in the driver's side. Logical, right? Remember - we were three!!! So, we're buzzing along in the car doing heaven knows what when I notice the glove box between the driver and passenger seat in the center of the car. (It was an OLD car. I was three in 1980, so ....) 

I leaned over and looked in, but found nothing of significance in the glove box (that I remember). Since there was nothing worth getting into there, I closed it shut. Shauna was looking at other things while I investigated the glove box and decided there were bigger fish to fry. It didn't take Shauna long to say, "Look!" She had the glove box open and her head was practically in it. Being the loving and mature friend I was, I shoved her head out of the way and said, "What?" At almost that exact moment, Shauna let go of the glove box "lid" and it pinched the side of my forehead as it closed. 

One thing I do remember was a searing pain near my eye and then a feeling of warmth down the side of my face. I wasn't sure what Shauna saw, but she threw the passenger door wide open and ran towards the house as if she saw a huge tornado coming our way. It took me a second to gather my senses, and then I realized what had happened. The tears started to flow immediately. I ran into Shauna's house only to see her mom, Freda, coming to greet me. As she got closer her face got more smooshed and crinkled up. Somethin' wasn't right. 

Next thing I know, I'm in Freda's bathroom. She's wiping red stuff off my face and telling Shauna to get back. Shauna looked like she was going to throw up or pass out - in which order, I didn't know. In what seemed like a very short time, the red stuff stopped flowing and Freda had placed a butterfly bandage on the side of my head. It still hurt, but heck, a butterfly bandage? You couldn't cry with one of those on your face, could you? 

After that, I don't remember much. I vaguely remember sitting at the kitchen table while Freda called my mom. It wasn't long before Mom showed up and took me home. The whole fiasco, I thought, was over, so I told Shauna I'd see her later that day so we could play some more. She continued to look like she might burst into tears or vomit at any second, and I honestly thought she was just mad because she didn't get a butterfly bandage. 

Mom didn't take me home. Instead, we ended up at the doctor's office. He promptly took off the pretty little butterfly bandage Freda had given me and gave me three stitches and an ugly brown Band-aid in its place. Who does that?! To a three-year-old?! The whole incident gave me a massive headache. 

I didn't get back to play with Shauna that day. Freda was mortified that the accident happened on her watch. Shauna may have been given a talking-to about it - I don't know that for sure. I don't remember ever seeing Colleen's car again after that. In fact, I think they got a new car shortly afterwards. We laugh about it now. It's a joke when we say, "Remember that time Shauna slammed Katie's head in the glove box of Colleen's car?" 

The scar is still there. It's tiny, but it's still visible. Occasionally, I will notice it when I look in the mirror. It's not a bad reminder of the events that day. It actually brings a smile to my face more often than not. The reason? Because I think how funny it must have looked in a bird's eye view to see that happen. (Yes, I'm one of those people that imagine what those in heaven look "down" and see as they're watching us crazy humans try to function and survive among the chaos and confusion that is mortal life.) 

It must have been funny to watch a two-year-old take out a three-year-old with the simple letting-go of the lid to a glove box in an old car. If only it were as easy to take out a war enemy or a despised and annoying neighbor. "Come on over here and sit in my car with me. Let's have a nice chat." All the while saying underneath your breath, "I'm gonna get you for [insert some awful, annoying thing here], you little scoundrel!" 

Hey - did Shauna and I find a quick solution to world peace without even knowing it?!