My Most Vivid Childhood Memory and How it Shaped Me into the Person I am Now
My Most Vivid Childhood Memory and How it Shaped Me into the Person I am Now
My most memorable moment in my childhood is one in which I will never forget. I’m sure that my parents will never forget the pain and agony and having to hear the surgeon tell them that he wasn’t sure exactly how I would act when I came out of surgery…..If I would ever walk, talk, see, hear, or even make it through the surgery.
It was June 14, 1992….it was a lovely, summer day. School was out, and my family had witnessed a wonderful Sunday church service. My grandmother, mother, and brother went to our families’ farm to relax, spend quality time with each other, and have a picnic. Little did we know that this day would turn into a day that we would never forget.
My younger brother and I decided to go for a bicycle ride. We pushed our bicycles up the hill, like we always do, and started to ride our bikes down the wide grass sides of the driveway. My brother was on the other side parallel to me. I started to pick up momentum and all of the sudden, there was a large branch in my way. I ducked and my handlebars went right into the gravel in the driveway. I was jettisoned from my bicycle and landed head first on the ground.
I immediately got up and ran down to my mother, who was inside the house. My whole body was covered in blood. My mother started handing me dishtowels that were immediately becoming saturated. I was so bloody that she was not sure exactly where the wound even was.
My mother took me to the local hospital where I sat in the waiting room. I had an MRI (which was extremely fun since I’m claustrophobic!) After the results were in, I was immediately taken to Pittsburgh Children’s Hospital.
The surgeon described my painstakingly long, tedious surgery as “completing a jig-saw puzzle with bone fragments.” A small piece of my brain had to be removed since it was infected.
I remember waking up from surgery and thanking God that I was still alive. My recovery wasn’t simple; I continued to have debilitating migraines for years after my accident. The first year following my surgery was especially hard since I was an adventurous, competitive, outdoorsy, amicable person who loved summer time- catching lightening bugs, swimming with friends, going for walks in the woods, and just enjoyed playing outside! It was hard to recover in my bed inside while I could hear children laughing outside from my bedroom window.
The irony to the story is that my mother and I attended a bicycle safety training a week prior to my accident. She wanted to buy me a helmet and I refused saying, “Save your money; I won’t wear it anyway; none of my friends wear one; I don’t want to be made fun of and there is no law saying I have to wear one anyway.”
This event changed my life because I learned that accidents can happen anywhere and being safe is better than being sorry. I always knew that I wanted to be a teacher when I grew up, but this experience made me realize I wanted to teach special education; I knew that God had a purpose for me and there was a reason why I lived through this experience and I wanted to teach the students who may not have been as lucky as I was.
