If you grew up playing outside, like most kids in our
generation did, then you most likely got some scrapes and bruises on your body.
A lot could have happened while playing or messing around with your friends.
You could have gotten a scratch on your knee, gotten a tooth knocked out, or
even possibly broken a bone. Now, I personally have gotten my fair share of
scratches and scrapes. I have lost one
tooth by getting it knocked out, but I have not broken a bone in my life up to
this point (I say/ type this as I am knocking on wood). But this is going to be
common among all of us. You can be playing around with your friends and accidentally
fall and snap your leg, and once you do this your leg will never be as strong
as it was for the rest of your life. It’s the same situation with your teeth. At a young age if you knock out a baby tooth,
that is fine because you have your permanents coming in still. But once that permanent
tooth gets knocked out you have only two options that I know of: get a fake tooth put in, or have a gap where
your tooth was. It is just crazy to me,
to think how you can do something at such a young age and not even have thought
twice about it, but it ends up being a part of you for the rest of your life.
For example, when I was in eighth grade it was a big thing for us dumb junior
high boys to give each other “eraser burns”. All it
was, was that you take an eraser and you rub it back and forth continuously on
a part of your body until the skin was almost raw. At the time it was the cool
thing to do, stupid, but cool. My burn is small compared to the size of what
some people were getting, yet I can still see it along with my other dumb burns
I have gotten. I often think to myself about scars and how long they will be
with you. Will I be sixty years old holding my grandchild looking at these
scars like they are a tattoo? Yes, most likely. But with these injuries and
scars comes lessons learned and great stories to be told. In our later years to
come, enjoy what life is going to offer you, but don’t take what you have for
granted. Just because we are older doesn’t mean we can’t still get scars.
After reviewing your article, I for myself can agree with you one hundred percent. I did the exact same things you have done while growing up, it's just as if we were the same. With you mentioning scars, I can relate because I have so many from my childhood by playing outside all day: especially growing up on the rez. Today, looking back at my childhood I do hold some regrets of eraser burns too from junior high. So this can draw a picture out of how similar we are from one another and growing up in different regions. This gives me an idea that maybe there are a lot more people out there that are in the same exact thought about the scars. By looking at my scars, I know my skin will look terrible when I get older. This article was well written and relatable that I'd enjoyed reading it, thank you.
ReplyDeleteBrandon, I loved this. I really enjoyed the way you took something common, and had us think about it on a deeper level. Everyone has scars, so this is relatable to everyone. I especially enjoyed when you talked about holding you grandchild’s hand. I’ve never really thought about me having my scars when I’m sixty, but I will. And just like you I will have to share some stories of my stupid moments that lead to a permanent scar. Thanks for sharing the story of your scar. I think it’s funny/not funny that you have eraser burns. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
ReplyDeleteDang bud, this really made me stop and just think about the scars, broken bones, and anything else that has happened to me. I really enjoyed reading this, because as I read, I thought about more and more scars that I have, and those scars aren't going to ever go away, that's crazy! The eraser burns, oh man, that really got me. I had forgotten all about them, luckily I only got one, but that's one too many. We were stupid man, I can't believe we thought that that was cool. And that stupid decision is going to stay with us for the rest of our lives. You're totally right though, each one of your scars has a story. The eraser burns is just one that we'll tell our little dudes not to be as stupid as us. This made me reminisce a ton about my childhood, thanks a lot for posting this, it made me think a whole lot.
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