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[personal profile] muckefuck
[I've been tagged at least twice already, so I guess I can't dodge this meme any longer. Rest assured, Dear Friends, that it dies with me. I'd like to come up with six things that no one on my Friends list knows, but given that both my boyfriend of nearly 10 years and my brother of over 30 years are on that list, that's too tall an order. But I should be able to come up with some things that neither [livejournal.com profile] owenthomas or [livejournal.com profile] darkphuque already knows.]

#1: I owe my life to my older brother.

Although I've lived in the Midwest almost all my life (this summer marks the 30th anniversary of our family's relocation to St. Louis), I was actually born in Baltimore and lived there for about a year-and-a-half when I was a toddler. My parents had a small house in the northeast part of the city where I shared a room with my older brother. Although he's only a year older, at the time I still slept in a crib while he was on a kid's bed.

Once during our afternoon nap, the foam mattress he was sleeping on got pressed up too close to an electrical outlet and started to smoulder. I've got no memories of the event, but still I'll wager that I woke up first (I'm a light sleeper; my older brother could sleep through an earthquake) and alerted him to the fact that the room was filling with choking black smoke.

He was too small to lift me out of my crib, of course, but he was sharp enough to go downstairs and find our father, who was napping on the couch. (Dad was a "house-husband" in those days, taking care of us boys while my mother worked as nurse in East Baltimore.) Dad's not a light sleeper either and it apparently took some effort to shake him awake, but my brother managed to do it and Dad came in and rescued me.

This wasn't the only close call during our childhood--my Mom says each of us came so close to death at least once that it made her believe in guardian angels--but it's probably the most dramatic. After that, almost getting my head bashed in by a rock from the neighbourhood bully in Ames hardly compares, does it?
Date: 2006-06-06 03:39 pm (UTC)

From: [identity profile] bunj.livejournal.com
This wasn't the only close call during our childhood

I'm reminded of the time you were almost abducted. I still remember the cops coming to the house.
Date: 2006-06-06 03:46 pm (UTC)

From: [identity profile] muckefuck.livejournal.com
Do you remember going down to the station a few weeks later to ID the guy? (I remember Dad and Sis came with me, but I can't recall if anyone else was in tow.)

Trivia fact: The officier who came to the house (and I remember there being only one) was the father of one of my classmates, Jeff Vilchek.
Date: 2006-06-06 04:06 pm (UTC)

From: [identity profile] bunj.livejournal.com
I don't think I came to the station. Considering my age, I wouldn't be surprised if I was spared that fun.
Date: 2006-06-06 04:23 pm (UTC)

From: [identity profile] muckefuck.livejournal.com
I think Beckage only came along because Dad didn't want to leave her at home for some reason. It was anticlimactic: They showed me a photograph, I couldn't confirm that it was the same guy, so they thanked me and sent me on my way.

You know, at the time that it happened, all I could think was what a fool I was for not getting his license plate number. I figured that I could've gone through the motions of dropping my bike near the rear bumper and thereby given myself time to memorise it.

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