It’s time for me to set the record straight. I’ve been dragging my feet for more than two years, but I must admit I unknowingly told you a lie.
Scroll back, if you wish, to March 18, 2023, a post I headlined as “Out cold.”
No, don’t do that, you’ll lose your place here. Just click this link and open it in another tab or window.
I wrote about the irony in the fact I had done many physical things, suffered a few injuries, etc. but the only time I had been knocked unconscious was while playing on the den floor with my 2-year-old sister.
Of course, I didn’t remember what happened, but I had carried a concept for almost 60 years, as presented in this paragraph from that article:
“The time I was knocked out, however, there was no wild activity going on. Brenda was sitting, as I picture it, and I was kneeling. We were rolling a ball back and forth. And I’m pretty sure I remember losing my balance while reaching for the ball and falling forward.”
I now know that assessment is not quite the truth. Let’s see, “no wild activity going on,” “I was kneeling,” “rolling a ball back and forth,” are total fabrications, and the comments about losing my balance, reaching for the ball and falling forward, while probably true, are gross misrepresentations.
Pardon me while I collect myself.
OK, I wrote that piece in March 2023, but it’s a story I had carried and shared for about 60 years at that point. Life goes on.
The following October, I traveled to nearby Lake Somerville and spent the day visiting with my brother, Ward, while he was camping there.
We were sitting outside on a nice autumn day, conversation ranging through the usual topics. I really cannot tell you what led to his revelation, which he just last week referred to as “the confession.” I wish I had written down exactly how he said it, but the bottom line was that the story was made up to keep the two of us out of trouble with our parents.
He spun the story to them that we were rolling a ball (he’s not sure if he included Brenda in it or not) and I, the brother who took pride in maintaining balance and being able to go to the ground and bounce up without injury, I fell forward and hit my head.
Don’t get distracted here. That’s not at all what happened. Nope, he admits now that we were playing tackle football in the house. And I will accept that charge. At fault, I’m sure. It wouldn’t have been the first nor the last time we got into trouble for roughhousing.
As I said, I would accept that. Guilty as charged. And to be fair, his ploy worked. We didn’t get into trouble, even though I think it unlikely they would severely punish a kid who just had his lights turned out.
However, instead of punishment for horseplay, probably a week without playing outside, I spent most of my life thinking I was concussed by a toddler.
And, on top of that, I lost a funny story.
Steve Martaindale 