From head to toe

I have scars...from head to toe. I've never been called graceful...because I'm SO not. Let me share the story of my scars...maybe you can relate?

9mo old: Dad is on his back in the living room holding me over his head and making me laugh until he lost his balance and dropped me on the leg of a piece of furniture. This led to my first stitches for a busted lip.

3yr old: Grandma had concrete steps coming down her front porch. I think I lost my equilibrium in the earlier accident and just tumbled down those stairs. Stitches #2 in my lip.

4yr old: Aunt & Uncle (Aunt Gert's brother) have a gathering of cousins galore. Kids are outside playing on the back patio which has about a 13 ft wall with an A/C unit at the base of it. I sat on top of the wall because that's a good idea for a 4 yr old and when my cousin came riding toward me on the Winnie the Pooh bike, I took a scoot back to save myself (you know, Winnie the Pooh is SCARY!)...but there was no where for me to scoot back to and I tumbled right off. Yep, my face hit the A/C unit which equaled stitches #3 in my busted lip. (and a safetypin of sorts in my top gums to hold in a tooth I wasn't yet old enough to lose)

1st grade: Playground at the Primary Anex--I'm a 7 yr old running around minding my own business, but as I came around the corner another Jennifer on the playground was doing the same so we colided. I remember piercing pain in my head and face, gushing blood from my nose...a call to my mom at work, a trip to the doctor, a scan of my head...Luckily nothing was broken, but I think my nose flattened a little that day

6th grade: Bike riding down the big hill on Ohio Street right by my house. That annoying piece that attaches to the middle of the wheel from the frame by the pedals had come loose and was flapping. I got my genius from somewhere other than my mom, I guess, because I thought it would be a good idea to hold that still with my foot...while riding...down a hill...really fast. Yes, my foot got stuck in the spokes of the front wheel...face plant (more like chin plant) on the concrete road and off for stitches.


12th grade: It didn't matter that at this point I was Drum Major of our High School Marching Band, Co-Captain of our Speech & Debate team, scholarship earner for college in the fall...I was still NOT graceful. After a speech & debate tournament at our school, I was helping clean up on the auditorium stage. Everyone was busy so I decided to fold the 6 foot table by myself. And as the table came down, it gained momentum and swept my feet out from under me. Stitches #2 on my chin!

There are more scars as we move down my body--these came about as an adult and I consider them my battle scars & I will share them as their own story later.