It was fall of 1976 I was in the eighth grade and minding my own business in the gym for PE. (if you are legally blind like me – that also meant trying to stay alive and avoid being hit in the face by stray objects) On that particular day- I was NOT successful. I don’t remember the sport we were playing but I had been hit enough times that the teacher though it might do me some good to rest a few minutes on the side.
The girls in my PE class were always kind to me and since I didn’t talk much about my sight or lack thereof they didn’t really know how to treat me at times, but they were never mean to me. Most of them had been in school with me since kindergarten.
My life was happy and made sense - UNTIL that moment when I was helped to the sidelines and the NEW girl walked over and sat next to me. I had seen her earlier that morning on my bus. She looked over at me and so I did the decent thing and looked back at her and she screamed, “WHAT?” NO ONE had EVER screamed at ME at school before. Everyone else took care of me and the infidel had waltzed in and screamed, “WHAT!” at me for NO reason! I was offended at the least and on the verge of tears. I was wearing a mood ring which was ‘the thing’ in the mid ‘70s. My cousin Deborah had let me borrow it for the day and this NEW girl wanted to see it. I did not know her and had already decided I DID NOT much like her so why would I take my cousin’s ring off and hand it to HER?
At that moment the teacher left the gym and the mean girl was ticked off that I hadn’t handed over the ring so she punched me in the arm! I stood there in shock! I could have her suspended for that and DID want to just start bawling my eyes out but I knew she would never let me live it down so after standing there for a minute I said, “What is YOUR problem?” I had never said that to anybody before… and couldn’t believe it came out of my mouth! I was the mousy little quiet one who had never stood up to ANYBODY!
She answered, “My problem is YOU- everyone treats you like a little angel and acts like you’re going to break. She then asked, “What’s your deal anyway?” Hum, that was the first person who had ever asked me what my ‘deal’ was. I said “Do you mean my sight?”, and she looked at me as if to say, “Duh”, so I began to explain the condition to her. “You are still a regular person silly”, she said to me and then walked away. After I told her everything I was still in fear because I though she might use it against me when I least expected it! Lol
The next morning I dreaded riding the bus because I knew SHE would be there. When the bus door opened I gingerly stepped in and when the sun is out I can’t see people, just their form so you had to call out my name for me to sit with you or I just sat wherever I could make out an empty space. That morning someone said, “Come sit here.” I recognized the voice at once. It was HER but she sounded nice this time. I sat down and she said, “My name is Carolyn James” She went on to explain she had just moved here from Puerto Rico.
Thirty plus years later, I still remember that as a turning point in my life and will forever be grateful to my ‘sis’ Carolyn for showing me that I’m just like anyone else. She toughened me up a little that day and through these many years she has made me step outside my “comfort zone” when I needed it.
We have been to each others’ weddings and births of children and sadly, deaths of family members. We have helped each other through horrific circumstances that are still hard to talk about.
The Lord knew all those years ago that I needed a punch in the arm and a friend for life. I love you Carolyn!
Happy Birthday
At that moment the teacher left the gym and the mean girl was ticked off that I hadn’t handed over the ring so she punched me in the arm! I stood there in shock! I could have her suspended for that and DID want to just start bawling my eyes out but I knew she would never let me live it down so after standing there for a minute I said, “What is YOUR problem?” I had never said that to anybody before… and couldn’t believe it came out of my mouth! I was the mousy little quiet one who had never stood up to ANYBODY!
She answered, “My problem is YOU- everyone treats you like a little angel and acts like you’re going to break. She then asked, “What’s your deal anyway?” Hum, that was the first person who had ever asked me what my ‘deal’ was. I said “Do you mean my sight?”, and she looked at me as if to say, “Duh”, so I began to explain the condition to her. “You are still a regular person silly”, she said to me and then walked away. After I told her everything I was still in fear because I though she might use it against me when I least expected it! Lol
The next morning I dreaded riding the bus because I knew SHE would be there. When the bus door opened I gingerly stepped in and when the sun is out I can’t see people, just their form so you had to call out my name for me to sit with you or I just sat wherever I could make out an empty space. That morning someone said, “Come sit here.” I recognized the voice at once. It was HER but she sounded nice this time. I sat down and she said, “My name is Carolyn James” She went on to explain she had just moved here from Puerto Rico.
Thirty plus years later, I still remember that as a turning point in my life and will forever be grateful to my ‘sis’ Carolyn for showing me that I’m just like anyone else. She toughened me up a little that day and through these many years she has made me step outside my “comfort zone” when I needed it.
We have been to each others’ weddings and births of children and sadly, deaths of family members. We have helped each other through horrific circumstances that are still hard to talk about.
The Lord knew all those years ago that I needed a punch in the arm and a friend for life. I love you Carolyn!
Happy Birthday
2 comments:
Carolyn, nice story. I have OA also. This reminded me of one gym class when I was in the seventh grade. They had put up a volleyball net across the gym floor and had the poles tied to the floor with wires. I was hanging out with some friends in the corner of the gym. I was sweaty and took off my glasses because they were sliding down my nose anyway. So then I got this bright idea to challenge one of my friends to race the length of the gym. He looked at me a little oddly, but said "sure". (He thought I was kidding.) So I took off running, expecting him to run also. But when I looked back, he was just standing there with a weird look on his face. That's when I hit the wire. It clotheslined me at a diagonal across my chest. My feet went out from under me and I ended up knockout out on my back on the floor. When I came to, I realized that they had carried me unconscious into the locker room. I had a black & blue line across my chest for about a week and a half. I never took my glasses off in gym after that.
Hi David, Yep, sounds like you have had FUN times in the gym also. I think one of the most important things I've learned through this is the ability to laugh through it.
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