"kenneth collins" <kenneth.p.collins at worldnet.att.net> wrote in
message
news:N25xd.1119574$Gx4.179958 at bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...
| CORRECTION to the CORRECTION:
| [...]
|| As a Child, my favorite toy was
| my Cousin's wheeled-buldozer.
I was thinking summer-'time'. Actually
my favorite toy was the Sled my Brother
gave me one Christmas.
He had $7 to do all of his Christmas
shopping, and he spent it All of the Sled.
It was a really-good Sled. The fastest
of all the sleds in the neighborhood. [I
took it down into Dad's workshop and
carefully honed it's runners, working
down the grit-gradient until they were
smooth-as-glass. Then I waxed 'em :-]
This Sled always won every "race",
both on speed and distance.
My Cousin's street was on a pretty-
good hill -- really long [more than
1000 meters], with a long flat part at
the 'bottom', which led to another small
downward-incline which outlet to a
street that had heavy traffic.
When the conditions were good, I
usually had to "bail-out" to keep from
sledding out into the traffic :-]
One Kid got so 'upset' that his sled
could never win a race that, one 'day'
he rammed me, and my Aunt had to
take me to the emergency room to
get my lip stitched back together.
Most of the 'time', I'd use it on a
short-but-steep hill at a golf course
that was near my Family's Home.
That hill had a =wicked= bump near
the bottom, and, when an ice storm
had coated the snow, I'd hit that
bump on my Sled and get "airborn"
real-good, then "Bang!" back into
the ice, heading over a long flat
run, right for the river, where I'd
have to "bail-out", holding onto
my Precious "Flexible Flyer" for
dear life, to keep it, and me, from
falling-in :-]
=Really= -Good Sled.
I passed-it-on to the Neighbor Kids.
I Remember your Giving-All, my
Brother.
It wasn't a "toy", but my other Brother
gave us All he had, including his car,
when he left to Serve in Viet Nam.
Mom 'just' gave-All, All-the-'time'.
Dad gave-All, but didn't like to let-on
that he was Doing-so.
In the end, Dad gave me the Oppor-
tunity to do what I'm doing.
It kind of ran in our Family.
Fierce-Giving-All-ness.
I Remember.
Love, Ken.