Michael School For Crippled Children

When I was in the sixth grade I fell down a steep set of stairs at my elementary school and fractured my right ankle. I was walking and talking at the same time in a big group of kids and suddenly went down. I remember being in pain at the bottom of the stairs. I was moved to a built in bench in the basement where we were all headed and a doctor arrived. The doctor examined me by feeling up my newly formed breasts, even though it was my ankle that was hurting. I didn't know I could have said something about the doctor's misbehavior.

At the hospital I was fascinated by the process of putting on the cast. The cast went all the way to my hip. I didn't understand why a hairline fractured ankle required so much cast.

I was to be in the cast for weeks. I stayed at my grandmother's house during my convalescence. I took baths with my injured leg propped up on the side of the tub. My grandmother fashioned a leg scratcher out of a wire coat hanger. Thanks Grandmother. I put that scratcher to good use.

I spent that semester attending Michael School for Crippled Children. Whaaaaaaaat??? The short yellow school bus picked me up from Grandmother's house. I was mortified. During school hours I rode around in a wheelchair. I had such a hard time maneuvering the wheelchair with my leg sticking straight out in front of me. We won't even talk about bathroom breaks.

My classmates were light years behind my regular class and I was bored to tears. The other students were seriously in need of being there. They had permanent physical and mental disabilities. I didn't make any friends. I didn't have the empathy I have today. I hated it there. I did, however, like the mac and cheese and fish sticks on Fridays.

It was a happy day when the cast was removed. I almost preferred keeping it on when I heard the doctor fire up that buzzing rotating saw to cut off the cast. Plaster dust flew everywhere. After weeks in the cast my leg had atrophied. That looked really weird to a little kid. I had to be convinced that my leg would soon return to its normal size.

After a quick online check I see that Michael School no longer exists, that its programs have been moved to another school. Can't say that I'm broken up about this, but the building itself was an architectural treasure, and I see some people are miffed that it's been replaced by a parking structure. That part is kinda sad.

This was the first and the last time I've ever been in a cast. Now that I'm a woman of a certain age. I hold on tightly to the banister when I'm on the stairs. Earl and I hold hands when we're on stairs together. People think it's so cute, they don't know we are just trying not to fall and break a hip!