It Could Have Been Worse In recent days I have seen several TV programs which involved parents being charged with child endangerment. Depending upon the nature of the charges ... Some parents had their children taken away from them and placed in foster care ... And in some instances the parent(s) were jailed. And as I remember my childhood; I can only imagine what would have happened to our family if some of today's laws were on the books when I was growing up. I think of a couple of accidents that happened (when lived in the house where the brahma bulls were turned loose in the pasture) which involved cutting wood ... I was only 4-5 years old, so I wasn't the one cutting the wood. (:^:D The first one was when Dad had a team of horses pulling a sled when he went out into the wooded area to get wood for the cook stove and heater in the house. On the way out from the house he had his axe and a cross-cut saw on the sled. His cross-cut saw was about 5 - 6 feet long and had a handle on each end so that two people could work together and cut a large tree. Because the empty sled would bounce too much for the tools to stay on it; Dad had "holders" on the sled to keep them in place. The "holder" for the cross-cut saw held it along the side of the sled with the teeth pointing up. Yep, you guessed it ... I was running along side of the sled when I tripped. As I fell I thrust my hand out to catch me as I fell. Of course, my hand came down on two of the teeth on the saw cutting two deep gashes in my left hand near my wrist. I still have two cresent shaped scars from that. Another accident happened when Dad was cutting the wood into pieces short enough to fit into the stove. He was using his axe. As one cuts across the grain of a branch of a tree with a sharp axe, the sharp chips of wood fly out in different directions. As Dad would cut a piece of wood off, I would pick it up and put it into a stack. As I was bending over to pick up a piece that Dad had just cut off ... He came down with the axe and a chip of wood struck my face just below my left eye but far enough down that it hit the bone rather than hitting the eye. This injury resulted in more than a scar. It injured one of the nerves that controls the eye and resulted in me being slightly cross-eyed ... Especially when I turn my eyes to either side, the left eye wanders up giving me double vision. To eliminate the double vision, I usually close the left eye and this has led to me being accused of winking at people. .... Hmm ... How is that for an excuse?? One more accident happened in the summer of 1935 after we had moved to the place where Dad was share cropping. The crop was corn and we were thinning and weeding the crop. Being summer time us kids were going barefooted. Dad had just sharpened my hoe and I made a "miss-lick" and hit the top of my foot. Mother said that as I ran toward her, blood from a severed artery squirted above my head. They put my foot in kerosene, to stop the bleeding, and then wrapped it and took me into Marietta to the doctor. I most definitely remember the doctor sewing it up (three stitches) without the benefit of an anesthetic. I was held by some adults. I remember trying to kick, while screaming and crying at top volume. The doctor said that he wished I'd be quiet. I said something about being quiet if they would just let me go. He said they'd let me go if I would be still and be quiet. I said: "OK." They let me go and he started to work ... I almost kicked him over .. So once again I was held. After he had finished, he said: "Look at all that blood on my shirt ... You're going to have to wash it for me." I told him: "Wash it yourself." Later I'll tell of some that could have happened ... But didn't

Dear Thurman, I've really enjoyed your 'Tales.' You had an interesting article that you said was found on Ebay. What would I search for to view some of these interesting old 'things?' I have never used Ebay, but today found it most disconcerting as I didn't know where to go. Much thanks, Mary Lou Petrie ----- Original Message ----- From: "Thurmon E. King" <thurmonking@juno.com> To: <SACKETT-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, May 17, 2003 3:35 PM Subject: [SACKETT-L] Tales from my childhood > It Could Have Been Worse > > In recent days I have seen several TV programs which involved parents > being charged with child endangerment. Depending upon the nature of the > charges ... Some parents had their children taken away from them and > placed in foster care ... And in some instances the parent(s) were > jailed. And as I remember my childhood; I can only imagine what would > have happened to our family if some of today's laws were on the books > when I was growing up. > > I think of a couple of accidents that happened (when lived in the house > where the brahma bulls were turned loose in the pasture) which involved > cutting wood ... I was only 4-5 years old, so I wasn't the one cutting > the wood. (:^:D > > The first one was when Dad had a team of horses pulling a sled when he > went out into the wooded area to get wood for the cook stove and heater > in the house. On the way out from the house he had his axe and a > cross-cut saw on the sled. His cross-cut saw was about 5 - 6 feet long > and had a handle on each end so that two people could work together and > cut a large tree. Because the empty sled would bounce too much for the > tools to stay on it; Dad had "holders" on the sled to keep them in place. > The "holder" for the cross-cut saw held it along the side of the sled > with the teeth pointing up. Yep, you guessed it ... I was running along > side of the sled when I tripped. As I fell I thrust my hand out to catch > me as I fell. Of course, my hand came down on two of the teeth on the > saw cutting two deep gashes in my left hand near my wrist. I still have > two cresent shaped scars from that. > > Another accident happened when Dad was cutting the wood into pieces short > enough to fit into the stove. He was using his axe. As one cuts across > the grain of a branch of a tree with a sharp axe, the sharp chips of wood > fly out in different directions. As Dad would cut a piece of wood off, I > would pick it up and put it into a stack. As I was bending over to pick > up a piece that Dad had just cut off ... He came down with the axe and a > chip of wood struck my face just below my left eye but far enough down > that it hit the bone rather than hitting the eye. This injury resulted > in more than a scar. It injured one of the nerves that controls the eye > and resulted in me being slightly cross-eyed ... Especially when I turn > my eyes to either side, the left eye wanders up giving me double vision. > To eliminate the double vision, I usually close the left eye and this has > led to me being accused of winking at people. .... Hmm ... How is that > for an excuse?? > > One more accident happened in the summer of 1935 after we had moved to > the place where Dad was share cropping. The crop was corn and we were > thinning and weeding the crop. Being summer time us kids were going > barefooted. Dad had just sharpened my hoe and I made a "miss-lick" and > hit the top of my foot. Mother said that as I ran toward her, blood from > a severed artery squirted above my head. They put my foot in kerosene, > to stop the bleeding, and then wrapped it and took me into Marietta to > the doctor. I most definitely remember the doctor sewing it up (three > stitches) without the benefit of an anesthetic. I was held by some > adults. I remember trying to kick, while screaming and crying at top > volume. The doctor said that he wished I'd be quiet. I said something > about being quiet if they would just let me go. He said they'd let me go > if I would be still and be quiet. I said: "OK." They let me go and he > started to work ... I almost kicked him over .. So once again I was held. > After he had finished, he said: "Look at all that blood on my shirt ... > You're going to have to wash it for me." I told him: "Wash it > yourself." > > Later I'll tell of some that could have happened ... But didn't > > > ==== SACKETT Mailing List ==== > To Subscribe to the digest, SACKETT-D, address your email to: > sackett-d-request@rootsweb.com and type: SUBSCRIBE. Remember to > unsubscribe yourself from sackett-l or you will get multiple copies! > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 > >