Big Daddy Gouda

It was a winter morning similar to today. It had rained the whole night. Everything was frozen and school was canceled.

I got dressed and went outside. How fun it was to get a running start and then slide down my semi-steep driveway; kind of like surfing. I slipped a few times but that was part of the fun.

I remember beggin my stepfather not to put sand down so I could spend my day slipping and sliding. Little did I know how much slipping and sliding I’d actually do.

Around lunch time my mother bundled my sister and I up as we were about to journey to the center of Litchfield to do a little shopping.

We lived on route 202 at the time, about a quarter mile away from the Litchfield Green.

We went to Superior Foods so mom could buy a few groceries, then we went to Murphy’s Drug Store where my sister and I were allowed to buy candy.

I remember leaving Murphy’s with a little brown bag filled with goodies.  That’s the only thing I remember about being in the center of town that day….

I opened my eyes. I was on my back on the side of route 202. My mother and sister hovered over me. They were crying. I was confused.

My mother told me I had turned around to say something, slipped and landed on my back.

Mom tells me I was unconscious for about a minute.

When we arrived back home mom called  Doctor Wan K. Moon. He said as long as I wasn’t dizzy, seeing spots or nauseous I should be okay. He also advised her to keep me awake for a few hours.

Aside from a little headache I felt fine.

I remember watching TV for a while until it was time to leave for Torrington and go to  dads for the night.

As we left the house to venture to the car, I noticed the  sidewalk that I had so much fun on earlier in the day  was now covered with sand. I was glad.

As soon as I arrived at dad’s my grandfather gave me the classic concussion test.

“How many fingers am I holding up,” he asked, holding up three digits.

“Three,” I responded.

“Ahh, your fine,” he said, as he went back to watching TV.

It was the only time in my life I  lost consciousness. Aside from passing out a few times from drinking too much, it was the only time I was not in control of whether I stayed awake or slept.

Although I may have been knocked out one day as my friend Bob and I wrestled in my room. Rumor has it he kicked me in the face and dropped me like a ton of bricks. Though, memories from my days with Bob are spotty at best.

Be carefull out there today.

and speaking of falling……………

This entry was posted on January 29, 2009 at 5:18 am and is filed under Stories . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.