Thursday, October 28, 2010

Losing Wendy

This is my post for Mama Kat’s weekly writing assignment.  I chose the prompt about a unique classmate.
The year I was in the 1st grade my friend Wendy died.  She fell from the top of some “monkey bars” and her injuries were so severe that she never recovered, and died a few days later.  What makes this post a little hard to write-is that the memories I have of that tragic event are the memories seen through the eyes of my 6 year old self.
When I first heard that Wendy had gotten hurt, I remember thinking that she would be back at school sooner or later.  I  didn’t even consider any other possibility.  I was visiting my grandmother when I heard the news.  Someone simply remarked, “I heard the Forbes girl died.”   I was stunned.
I don’t think it was the losing of a friend that was so hard.  It is just that when you are 6, there is a certain order to the way your  life is.  Wendy’s death changed that for me—showed me that I couldn’t be sure of anything. 
Even now, I can conjure up some some of my impressions at that time, but they are vague, and I can’t put them into words.  I don’t remember that anyone talked to us about Wendy.  There wasn’t any sort of grief counseling.  I think everyone thought that it was best to just not talk about it.
I still think of Wendy once in a while.  I wonder the usual things, like what she would have done with her life if she’d had the chance to grow up.  And whenever I see some of those same monkey bars-I am 6, and haunted, again.

12 comments:

  1. Wow! This was beautiful! I lost 2 friends in 10th grade and another in 11th and no one spoke to us, either. I can't imagine being 6. Yes, we do feel a certain order of ways when we are 6.

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  2. Oh, that is so sad and scary. I can't imagine. I lost my second cousin same grade as me when we were seniors to a terrible car wreck. Youth being taken is such a tragedy. You did a great job remembering her from age 6.

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  3. What a beautiful post. It makes me think of the classmates I lost in high school - every once in a while I will think of them, and wonder...

    Peace,
    Michelle ;)

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  4. You did a lovely job remembering your friend Valerie. When my sister and I were about 9 and 10, we had sister friends who were riding bikes with their cousin. The cousin was in between them when they crossed a busy road and she was hit by a car and died. It made me nervous when my older two learned to ride bikes and again now with my eight year old. I immediately thought of their cousin when I read your story. Nobody ever really talked to us about it either. Thanks for sharing-

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  5. Thanks Tanya! It's sad to read everyone's stories here-but it helps to share them too.
    Thanks again everyone:)

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  6. oh, that would be hard, and confusing. Or not knowing if you can ask questions, and even WHAT questions to ask...!

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  7. Oh my gosh! I can't even imagine how the parents of that little girl must have felt. What a freak accident!?! So sad.

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  8. Monkey bars? I think of all the times I used to play "chicken" and cringe.

    Our small class lost a lot of students from middle school and beyond. I can't even imagine.

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  9. Wow....beautifully written.

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  10. Love the way you describe it through the eyes of a 6 yr old.

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