Oh, Brother

As a young boy growing up I spent a lot of time around my maw and paw (mom’s parents). We lived with them for a while during the mid-fifties, after my dad was drafted into the army. It was during this time that the following incident occurred.

On this particular day in my life, paw was having trouble getting his old car to start, so he and mom tried starting it by pushing it off. They pushed it down the hill toward my great uncle Harvey’s house, but it still refused to start.

While they were doing all the work, my brother Carl and I were in the back of the car. Carl was not quite 2 years old at the time (I believe that’s right) and had the bad habit of drinking just about anything. He happened to find a can of lighter fluid in the floor board of that old car and before I knew it had taken a swallow of it. The minute he did, he went out like a light. I let out a yell and got mom and paw’s attention. Mom grabbed him up and they went to work trying to get him to wake up. Mr. Miller, the area mailman, happened along at about that time and wasted no time getting mom and Carl into his car and off they sped.

Needless to say, there were some tense moments after that, but mom and Carl returned home safely later that day. Mr. Miller had gotten them to the hospital on time and the doctor pumped Carl’s stomach out and got him revived. Mom told us that Mr. Miller went through Opp running every traffic light, blowing his horn and flashing his lights.

Thanks to Mr. Miller’s quick action and the doctor and staff at Mizell Memorial Hospital, my brother Carl survived his life threatening ordeal.

This event happened because Carl was young and didn’t know any better, but there is one other incident that was pure stupidity. Til next time…