When I was a pre-schooler, I remember asking my Dad about the scars all over his hands and face. Looking back, I realized that when I first asked those scars were recent. When my Dad was older, I don't remember seeing them, so maybe they became less apparent over time. At any rate, the scars were an emotional subject for my Mom. I remember her telling me about a fire in the basement of our house. It was bad enough that she called the fire department.
At that time, people believed that cold water was the worst thing you could put on a burn. They believed putting butter or another oil was the best thing for a burn. I cringe to think what my Dad suffered.
Mom also told me that there was snow when this happened. She was on her way home from St. John's Hospital when the car she was driving slid backwards at a stop sign near Rodney Street because of the slippery streets. To add insult to injury, a police officer ticketed her. When she went before the judge, she explained what happened. The judge said in a disgusted tone, "Oh that was ______." Apparently this officer was notorious for issuing unwarranted citations. The judge dismissed the ticket.
Another interesting fact of this incident is that the Lieutenant Brockway mentioned in the article was the grandfather of one of my good friends in middle school.
My Dad fully recovered. And I never, ever saw him with gasoline or fire in the same place at the same time.
4 comments:
What a horrible experience. I would be emotional about it too, if I had been in grandma's shoes.
I still don't really understand what happened. What was he doing in the basement with gasoline? Was the fire from the furnace or something? Did grandma arrive home to find the house on fire? How traumatic.
My parents would never say anything other than he was doing something in the basement. Mom was upstairs and called the fire department.
My parents would never say anything other than he was doing something in the basement. Mom was upstairs and called the fire department.
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