Can a 2 year old fly?

          My adventures start at the age of 2 years old. I know this because we lived on Blossom Lane, Mesquite, Texas in the community of Pleasant Grove. We moved to Seagoville, Texas when I was 3.5 years old in October of 1964. We lived in a two bedroom home with a covered patio converted to a third bedroom. We had a step-down converted garage den. There was only one bathroom. We lived next door to the Pinedas, who were our best friends on the street. Between our homes there was a double chain-linked fence, I can’t tell you why. On the left side of the house was white wooden fence that enabled us all to climb onto the roof. We had a multi-colored dog that was named, Sambo.

          I tell you these things because they are involved in my stories. It’s funny the things we remember when we were young because this was a time of my life that my siblings were so important to me. I wanted so bad to immolate them. I caught on quickly to favoritism, things I should not do and those that I should do. But, I still wanted to impress my siblings as much as I could. In a way, this was a BIG mistake. If they wanted to try something new, it was,” Let’s get MILLARD….he will do it!!”

          So, one day we had a bed and box springs set in the driveway that was in front of the den. My sisters convinced Darrell and me to climb on top of the roof and “parachute” down onto the bed. Darrell agreed that I should go first. The parachute was a sheet with corners tied to both hands and both feet from my backside. Of course I was scared, but they kept assuring me that I was light enough to make it. So, after many minutes of debate and guilty cheers, my sisters got on each side of the bed and said they would count to three, I would jump, then they would catch me. Darrell stood behind me and all three started to count…”one, two (PUSH FROM BEHIND ME)), uhhh, what happened to three?” I found myself hurling to the bed stomach down and arms and legs sprawling. Oh, and screaming my lungs out!

          My body bounced onto the bed springs and then hurled in a flip forward. By the time I could figure what I was doing, I was on my back on top of the hood of the car crying with all my might. So, did I fly? Does it count that Darrell pushed me? I never tried it again, so the answer will never be told! By the way, where was mom or dad? That question will come up many times in my stories.

“What happens when you try to go too far up a tree?”

          There were two trees in our yard between the Pinedas. They were next to each other and one was larger than the other. Billy Boy could scurry up both trees with ease. It was not so easy for the rest of us. I had to climb up the fence just to get to the limbs of the smaller tree. After that, I was too scared to go any higher. I was in the house with my mom when suddenly Mary came in from the back informing mom that Anna had fallen from the tree and was stuck between the two fences. We all ran out and I saw Bill in the high tree climbing down and Anna indeed had fallen between the fences. It gets blurry from here but I believe Mr. Pineda and my mother were trying to get Anna out.

          Later that evening dad took us children to Mesquite Memorial Hospital to see Anna. Because of our ages, we were not allowed in her room, so we had to look through her room window and wave or write notes to her through it. I remember she had a cast or sling on her arm and also got a stuffed green bunny rabbit that she named Pugsley. Little did I know that at least twenty-five percent of my growing up was going to include hospital visits, usually for seeing my mother one reason or another. When I get to my high school years, my mother’s hospital stay will play a very important role about my life.

“How a father gets his 5 young children to take a mandatory shot in their butt.”

          On one occasion that my mother was hospitalized, the entire family needed to take a mandatory shot to protect us from catching what she had acquired. Dr. Pirrung thought that the best way to do it was to schedule the entire group all at once. So, my dad took us to the clinic, deliberately forgetting to let us know what was in store for us. We all went into the room where the doctor was waiting. We saw the syringes and immediately headed to corners in fear. My dad kept demanding that we each come up to the table and drop our pants to take the shots like brave people. It was suggested that we go in order of age…me wanting oldest to youngest and Billy Boy wanted youngest to oldest. Dad tried bribing the ones who would cooperated. That did not work so he pulled off his belt and threatened to whip us.
When that didn’t work, the doctor demanded my dad to be an example and get his first, instead of last. My dad started dancing around saying, (“What? What, what?”)! We kids began laughing as he bent across the table and dropped his pants. We moved closer to watch and in went the needle. He was yelping and shaking while saying it wasn’t hurting, (even though we all watched tears coming down his face.) I got a little too close and the doctor grabbed me and threw me on the bed pulling my pants down as he carried me. Before I knew it, he had the needle in me and shot me. Though crying, he handed me a lollipop and quickly started chasing another kid as my dad went after another. I sat at his desk while watching the chases around the room. When it was finally over, we all got our suckers while waiting for dad and the doctor to catch their breath.. That never happened again……. I wonder why?

“What to do when a tornado is coming down your street.”

          I was in the den watching television when out of nowhere Billy Boy came down telling us all to get in the closet because a tornado was heading for us. Not really knowing what was happening, I tried to follow his command. It was a very tight fit for us in the closet and Billy kept getting out to look through the window. He finally yelled saying that the tornado was in our front yard. Everyone began screaming, which scared me. I ran from the closet to my parents’ room, where dad was sleeping. I slid my body under their mattress and wiggled until I could tell I was below my dad. I flattened my body and waited a good 20 minutes until one of the other kids called my name looking for me. I wiggled my way back out and left my dad’s room never waking him up. To this day, I still don’t believe there ever was tornado!

………to be continued. Moving to Seagoville, Texas. Ages 4-6 years old. My life forever changed!

• 19th Jun 2017
• mylife
• 9 Comments
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