1978
I was Three Years Old.
Now, I don’t remember any of this. As I said, I was three.
I’ve heard this story all of my life, though.
I was developing normally for a kid with Spina Bifida.
I had even begun walking at the time normal kids started walking.
Yep, everything looked good except for one thing: I couldn’t feel my legs or my bottom.
One day, mom had bathed me. Afterward, she took me out of the tub, stood me up, and said, “Let me go get my big boy a towel.” (Or something like that)
Mom went to get the towel, and I decided to sit down. So, I sat my fat little hiney on top of the Floor Furnace Grate.
If you don’t know, floor furnaces get hot. The Grates get extremely hot.
And I was just sittin’ on top of that Grate and getting warm.
Meanwhile, the Grate was burning my skin. The skin I couldn’t feel.
Mom walks back and sees me playing on the Grate.
“NOOOO!” Mom shouted, and she grabbed me up off the Floor Furnace Grate.
The Grate had left its mark on my hiney too.
You know how a Steak has Grill marks on it?
Yep. I had those types of marks all on my hind end.
My bottom was no longer “Smooth like a baby’s bottom.”
Mom carried me to the E.R.
She then had to explain what “Spina Bifida” was and how I couldn’t feel my legs or bottom very much.
In the end, no pun intended; they bandaged me up and gave mom some medicine to wipe on me daily.
Do I still have the marks on my bottom? I’m not telling.
No, seriously, the marks are all gone.
Now, I tell you that story to tell you this one:
Today, Papa and I ran over to “Wild Wings” to get Supper.
We love Wings in this house.
We purchased a Thirty-Piece of Wings—Bone in, of course.
We take them back out to the truck, and I sit the bag on my lap as we drive home.
About 5 minutes into the trip, Papa gets a look on his face and puts his hand under the bag to feel the heat.
“Get that off your legs. It’s scalding hot!”
I felt the bottom with my hand, and it was scalding hot.
So, I took the bag off of my legs.
Sometimes, it’s weird having this body.
Life is interesting, though.
