On Christmas Eve, my older half-sister Lisa came to spend the week with us. It was the first Christmas I ever spent with her; she lived in Virginia and I hadn't seen her since we moved away from North Carolina when I was 2. In 1986, she was 19, and I was 7, and I pretty much idolized her from the moment she walked in the door after my dad picked her up from the airport. I liked having an older sister around! Up until then, I was raised as the oldest girl in our family, with two older brothers, and two younger sisters, and so it was a welcome change having Lisa there!
I remember Lisa painted my fingernails while she was with us. It was such a momentous occasion for me because it was the first time I'd ever had that done! I remember wanting her to do my hair while she was there, too. I asked Lisa yesterday what she remembered from that Christmas of 1986, and she said she remembered me banging on her door very early every morning! Which I'm sure that I did--because I do remember wanting to spend every waking minute with her!
On December 30th, Lisa left to return home. I was very sad to see her leave, but I was so grateful for the time she spent with us that Christmas.
Two days later, on New Year's Day, I was in an accident. Dad took me and my older brothers sledding with our friends the Spear's at Mission Park in Spokane that afternoon. Mission Park has a wide hill that's perfect for sledding. The area is visible from the freeway and is close to the waterslide park. On one of the runs down the hill, I decided to ride a plastic sled along with my friend Jessica. She sat in the front, and I sat behind her. Having two people on the sled made us go twice as fast, and we zoomed down the hill. As we approached the bottom, we could see her older brother Ryan. He had just finished his run, stood up, turned around, and was standing there watching us. We were headed straight for him, and he just stood there frozen in place, not knowing what to do. At the last second, Jessica jumped off the sled to avoid hitting her brother, and I just sat there and screamed. Ryan held up his metal runner sled to cover his face, and when my sled hit his feet, he fell towards me and the metal runner on his sled gouged my chin. It was a pretty deep wound, and I remember seeing blood. My dad ran over and picked me up and carried me as he was running to the Volkswagen Bus. He laid me on the backseat and drove me to the hospital, remaining calm and talking to me the whole way. He'd given me a scarf or something to cover my chin, and I held it there the whole time on the car ride. I felt like I was in a dream as we drove, and I was seemingly calm, too. After we arrived at the hospital, they gave me 6 stitches to sew up my chin, where the scar remains today. The Dr. told me that I was very lucky that the wound wasn't an inch lower, or it would've cut through my airway, and that would've been life-threatening.
The Spear's felt terrible, and I remember that night, they came and visited us at our home. They brought goodies and they made Ryan apologize to me. The hardest part about having my chin wound that winter was that I couldn't play outside in the snow until the stitches were removed. So, for over a week, I remember that whenever my siblings went out to play, I just sat at the window and watched them, feeling upset that I was stuck inside!
Sometimes it's the events surrounding Christmas that make it a more memorable one, and in 1986, that definitely was the case! I don't remember much at all about Christmas day itself that year...except for the fact that I got a barbie from Santa. But having Lisa in our home and having my chin cut upon both upstaged the Christmas morning events in my memory!
1 comment:
I've been enjoying reading your Christmas memories. I am very impressed that you can remember so much from your childhood. The first Christmas I can sort of remember is when I was in 5th grade.
Post a Comment