The runts in my life

So Tink asked us to throw down our “runts” those little stories that aren’t part of the big moments in our lives but yet are still momentous in some way.

Runt #1: Back in elementary school lunch came with a main course, milk, and a little container of peanuts and raisins. My friend and I thought it would be a great idea to gather up all the unwanted containers, put them in our now empty milk cartons and then snack on our bounty. Which we did. To the point where I was throwing up peanuts and raisins for what felt like days. I can’t touch either of them to this day without feeling sick.

Runt #2: When my family gathered up our lives and moved to Michigan we drove across the country. From California to our new home in Southfield MI. Three things happened on that trip that I will never forget. We made the drive in winter. And getting over the continental divide was hazardous. Several semi’s had jackknifed and the going was dangerous at best. When we actually got across and on to safer roads we learned that the highway patrol had shut the pass down. It was the first time in my life in which I remember being truly scared. The next momentous event on that trip was a stop we made at a diner. It was truly a truck stop location. Complete with a waitress that called everyone “hun”. I was enamored and awed by the experience. The friendly and down home little café. And to this day I believe the best pie I have ever eaten. Lastly when we drove through a chunk of Texas I picked up a souvenir, a book called Texas Tall Tales. I still have it 30 years later. And the stories in there still make me laugh.

Runt #3: We lived in Michigan for 18 months. And in that short amount of time I had more weird things happen to and around me than would normally happen in a decade or two. A portion of the school we went to burned down. All but the mother of a family that went to my school died from Carbon Monoxide poising. I suffered third degree burns from an accident and had to have skin grafts. And just days after getting out of the hospital I managed to get a splinter the size of my whole thumb up into what little skin I had left on my heel. Not long after my hospital stay I also got a really bad case of bronchitis that took me out of school for another couple of weeks. I had my first and only bully experience and got into a huge brawl on the way home from school. And I got my first kiss. (on the cheek, but still my first kiss) his name was Richard Cerbello. And to this day I have always wondered how he’s doing.

Runt #4: In college my roommates and I would often ride the bus into Hollywood to see a movie. It was a long trip but we would wander around the areas of each bus change. On one occasion we stopped at a pet store because we were early for our movie. Inside the pet store there was a table of bunnies. One of the bunnies was a big grey lop ear. She came bounding across the table to me and demanded ear scratches. Which of course I obliged. Then it was time to go to the movie. But as soon as the movie was over I headed back to the pet store and bought the little lop. I named her Miss Louise. Which is part of a title to a song from the Lost Boys sound track. She was the best bunny in the world. She trained herself eventually to only go potty in her cage. And she loved Apple Jacks more than any food in the world. In fact if we left the box of apple jacks on the kitchen counter she would figure out how to get to it, knock it off the counter and tear into the box. She didn’t do this with any other cereal. Not even something similar like Fruit Loops. It was only Apple Jacks. She came when you called her and loved people. She was far more like a dog or cat than what we typically think a rabbit would be like. I still miss her terribly.

Ok, enough of my little runts. How about a few from you?