My Life by Kuyong (Pseudonym)

Chapter 3: Town by the river

     Mom and Dad had found a small three bed room house to rent in a small town that sat along the mighty Mississippi river about six miles from where my Dad had his new job. Summer was about over and I would be starting the 3rd grade at my new school. Back then I was thin and kind of lanky. I was also one of the youngest in my class. I was still 7 years old when all my other new classmates had already turned 8. I had made a few friends from the kids in the neighborhood before school started, on of which invited me to go with him to a place that would change not only my life but my families life as well. He took me to his cub scout meeting. I loved the atmosphere and all the fun things that they were doing at the meeting. I wanted to join right then, right there, but it was not to be just yet. I couldn't join the scouts till I turned 8 officially because of the rules. I had to wait almost a month more before I could officially join but they let me come over and I had fun playing with all my new friends that I had met on the day of the meeting. Some of the kids there that day were not scouts but the children of the Den mother that lived in the house where the meetings were held. Once I turned 8 I joined the cub scouts and that Den Mother and Father along with their children became a second family to me. I learned so much from them and it also filled a very real need in me.

     My Dad was always working long hours and used to go out after work to the bar with his buddies so I didn't see him much. I would see him when I would get up to get ready for school and on Sundays and that was about it. Cell phones like we have today didn't exist so there was no picking up the phone and calling to say “Hey, Where are you and when will you be home?” On Friday nights which were the worse nights for him going to the bar, Mom would have to load us up in the car and then go from one bar to the other to find him, then go in and talk him into coming home. If he didn't work on Saturday he would sleep in and when he got up he would ether run to the plant to see if everything was going okay there or go off fishing. Because of this he wasn't around much back then and that brings me back to my 2nd family and how they changed our lives.

     One Friday night my Mom was frantic and trying to locate my Dad, he had taken the car because the company truck he drove was in the shop. My little sister had gotten very ill very quickly and was running a high fever that was rising quickly. Since we were new in town Mom didn't know many people yet, but she did know that my new Den Father was also on the local rescue unit and could get there quickly since he was only about 5 blocks away. The ambulance had already been called but since they were about 6 miles away it would take time for them to get there. It was time we didn't have. By the time my Den Father got there my almost four year old sister was having convolutions. Her temperature was 105.8 degrees by then. He grabbed her up and ran to the bathroom and started running cold water in the tub, at the same time he told my mother to bring all the ice she had and dump it into the tub. He then he put her into the tub to bring down her temperature. She started screaming her head off but had stopped her convolutions. The EMT's arrived and took over. They wiped her down with alcohol and then wrapped her in a shiny blanket and put her into the ambulance. They wouldn't let my Mom ride in the ambulance back then so my Den Father dropped me and my brother off at his house and took my Mom to the hospital. When she arrived she could hear my sister screaming when she entered the ER. They had put her back into a tub of ice water to get her temp down to a safe level.

     They keep her at the hospital for a few days getting rid of the infection that was causing the her temperature to rise. Mean while I stayed for the weekend where I was and we had a little camp out in the backyard. It helped keep my mind off my little sister. When she came home she told us that the doctor said if it had not been for the quick actions of my Den Father my little sister would have probably died or if she had lived she would have had brain damage by the time the EMT's arrived. As you can see if we had never met this wonderful family, I would have lost my only sister and she would have not had her two children she has now. For this I am truly thankful that I have her, my nephew, and my niece in my life.