Easy Rider
He was labeled "accident prone" by the rest of the family.
Roaring down the steep driveway, on our friend’s bicycle. He wasn’t even thinking about how this might end….until the last second. By that time, he was on the other side of the street, soaring over an open field, looking down at the ditch he had just breached. One shoe flew off in the direction of the bushes, but he was not close enough to have those bushes break his landing. He just sailed out over the ravine, and landed in the weeds, the bicycle somewhere between his shoe, and where he landed. This was how my brother experienced life. One self-inflicted pain after another, he was labeled “accident prone” by the rest of the family, but I think he just didn’t look ahead, in most situations. When he was four years old (not really understanding the laws of physics yet), he was swinging on the refrigerator door handle. He wasn’t very big, but neither was the refrigerator. After a few hearty swings on that handle, he pulled the whole refrigerator over on himself. It was very fortunate that the refrigerator landed on only one side of his body, and cleared his little head. I don’t think I ever saw my mother as some kind of a weight-lifter (“Eve the Destroyer”), but she moved so fast, my brother was out in little more than five seconds. She picked up the corner of the fridge with her left hand, and yanked him out with her other. After checking him out for injuries, head to toe, she was unable to budge that fridge, with both hands! We other 4 kids just stood there, with our mouths hanging open, and eyes wide open. When my father got home, he righted the refrigerator, and was more than a little impressed that my mother was able to free my brother, literally, single-handedly, and we gave her a wide birth, when passing by her, and we minded our p’s and q’s for a respectable amount of time, before launching back into our usual clueless kid selves.
I remember that day - it was burned into my memory! It was so scary, and at the same time mind blowing that Mom lifted that refrigerator one handed. After it was determined that he was okay, and every one was calmed down, Mom broke into tears…… do you remember that? The, our other sister and I cried too. Thanks for yet another trip down our shared memories. Hugs from your big sister 💕
Amazing fridge story! I've always wondered how any of us live past age 3, what with the dangerous things toddlers get into once they are ambulatory!