I've been thinking of writing an autobiography or memoir but it just never comes together for me but I figured if I write one story at a time and post it on my blog maybe once a month, I can do that. Maybe one day I'll pull all the stories together and put them in a book but for now I'll just share some stories with you about my childhood and into adulthood. Some of the stories will be happy, some sad and some horrific because that was my childhood. But they will all be real, things that actually happened. If it seems like something that people enjoy reading maybe I'll keep it going. These stories will not be in any kind of order, I'll just write them as they come to me.
Kimberly
When I was 5 years old there was a little girl named Kimberly that lived right next door to me. We were best friends and she was the same age I was. My house had a fenced in yard so her mother used to let her come over and play in my yard with me. The street we lived on was a main, busy street right across the street from a park. My brother and I always wanted to go to the park but my mom never let us cross the street by ourselves because there was always so much traffic on the street.
One day I was playing in my yard and I saw Kimberly crossing the street by herself to get to the park. In an instant, she was hit by a large, red pickup truck. I remember hearing the squealing of the tires as the truck stopped but the truck hit her before it could stop. We lived by the fire station, it was only about 3 houses down the street and I remember this guy yelling for someone to go down there. He ended up running down to the fire department himself.
All that time, I remember just standing in my front yard. Not yelling, not crying, not turning around and running to get my mom. I just stood there at the fence line waiting for my friend to get back up. But she never did. My mom and Kimberly's parents didn't even know anything happened until the fire truck pulled up in front of our houses and had their siren on for a minute.
I remember seeing Kimberly's mom run out of her house next door screaming and crying and then my mom came outside and came to the fence line with me and asked me what happened. But I just stood there. I remember wanting to talk, wanting to move but I couldn't. It wasn't until my mom picked me up and put me in the house with my brother that I started crying. I know my mom went back outside and came back home a few minutes later. My mom called her mother because I still wasn't talking. I just sat in the rocking chair in my room and cried. I wasn't sure what happened to Kimberly but I heard my mom tell my grandma on the phone that she had died when the truck hit her. I remember not really understanding what that meant but I knew that my friend was hurt and I was upset by what I saw.
Kimberly's parents moved away soon after that.
Links to past stories
2023
2024
What a horrible experience. Sadly, it's sometimes wise to stop kids from doing things like crossing a street without an adult. Five would certainly be too young to do that safely. A parent can't assume a child that young will remember to look both ways or could judge how far away cars have to be to not present any danger.
ReplyDeleteThe pickup truck was probably going too fast for a residential street. They need to be able to stop pretty much instantly. Kids running into the street are always a possibility.
Good on you for recording your memories! The good, the bad and everything between truly make us what we are. It's those early and traumatic experiences that make us treasure our time here and give us an understanding of mortality. I imagine it reinforced your obedience to your mother as well.
ReplyDeleteWhat a sad , sad story. Children don't understand death, but this clearly had a huge impact on you.
ReplyDeleteWhat a horrible experience for you to have as a child. And to lose your neighborhood best friend. So young and so needless. That's why parents usually do keep a very strict eye on their children to try to keep them as safe as possible. But it can't always be avoided can it. And you have to live with the memory of it the rest of your life which is so sad. You're also very brave to tell us about it.
ReplyDeleteThat movie must live on indelibly in your mind. The first death that I witnessed was from an accident, but I hadn’t seen the event. I just stumbled on the scene afterward. What I saw was the cessation of the boy’s breath. It didn’t traumatize me at all.
ReplyDeleteThat is sooo sad Mary.
ReplyDeleteThat's heartbreaking, and to witness that at such a young age is unimaginable. ❣️
ReplyDeleteWhat a terrible incident, both for Kimberly and her family, and for you as the young witness of violent death. No wonder you remember that traumatic incident so well. I know that feeling of being frozen with fear, I experienced it twice in my own childhood. You never forget it or the incidents that cause it.
ReplyDeletethat is a traumatic event!! I cannot imagine processing that at such a small age.
ReplyDeleteSomething like that haunts you for the rest of your life. How sad for everyone involved.
ReplyDeleteHow horrible, but I am glad you are able to share this. Children struggle with understanding things like death, especially when the child is your age.
ReplyDeleteOMG! How traumatizing, for you and the truck driver.
ReplyDeletePoor Kimberly, it is really isn't safe playing in the streets.
ReplyDeleteWhat a horrible memory to have.
ReplyDeleteWow. That is so sad & for you to have seen this tragedy at such a young age. I am sorry you went through that experience.
ReplyDeleteWow!
ReplyDeleteHow terrible. And traumatic. No wonder your mom wouldn't let you cross the street without an adult. Yikes.
ReplyDeleteThat is so very sad and such a horrible experience for you and everyone else.
ReplyDeleteOMG. My heart.
ReplyDeleteThat breaks my heart.
ReplyDeleteOMG what Trauma to Witness as a Child, and how horrible for your Dear Little Friend, and even for the Driver that would then have to Live with the Truth they hit and killed a Child, even if they couldn't have avoided such a terrible tragedy! I feel for Kimberly's Parents too and know they had to feel much Guilt for unsupervised moments that led to the Death of their Dear little Girl. I remember when I was about 5 a Friend named Mark Died sledding on a Toboggan and when it hit a Tree and he choked on his own Tongue, or that is what us Kids were told. After that I couldn't get on a Sled of any kind, I realized the danger. So glad your Parents had that Fenced Yard and your Mom had the instincts to never allow you or your Brother to cross that busy Road to get to that Park.
ReplyDelete