Prized Possessions - Vol. 1

Three houses down the street from the house in which I grew up lived an elderly couple and the husband's sister. I only knew the wife as "Mrs. S." "Mr. S." was Fred and his sister - who was wheel-chair bound - was Blanche. Blanche made me a ceramic bible with my name and date of birth on it when I was born. I never met her in person until I was 8 years old when she called and invited me to play board games with them one afternoon. To be honest, I was horrified that these strange old people I barely knew of wanted me to come to their house, but my family thought it was the right thing for me to do, so I was sent. They spent most of the time I was there talking about their memories of my older sisters and I was thoroughly b-o-r-e-d!

I must have made a good enough impression because I received a phone call from Fred one evening, a few months later. It was around 6:30, we'd just finished dinner and Mom and my sister, Judy, were still sitting at the table, talking. Honestly, I didn't think Fred knew my name other than "the little one," but sure enough, he asked for me by name! He told me he had a present for me and asked if I would I meet him part way down the street so he could give it to me (could this story sound any creepier...?!) Anyway...in a tribute to the trusting times and the fact that my family had known these people for 30 years, I was allowed to go meet Fred.

He was well on his way up the hill when I met up with him. He handed me a lunch-sized paper bag, and he said he bought it for me. He kept on walking up the hill, so I walked with him and soon we were at my house. Our house had a lot of stone and concrete steps...2, then a landing, then like 12 and a longer landing, then 6, then a landing, then the front door. I had just reached the long landing at the top of the 12 steps with Fred only a few steps behind me when I heard a strange sound and turned around.

I will never forget what I saw...it was Fred losing his balance at the top of the stairs. He must have just reached the landing. He was making those big circles you make with your arms when you are trying to prevent yourself from falling backwards...But that is just what happened. He fell backwards down all 12 concrete steps and landed in a heap on the bottom landing! I ran into the house to tell Mom and Judy who were still at the table that Fred had fallen down the stairs. The next thing I remember is an ambulance in our driveway, then I think Grandma ushered me out of earshot in case news was bad. Fred turned out to be OK...nasty bump on the head and lots of blood, but, by golly, the old guy was OK...no hospital or anything.

Now, knowing that he was alright was a relief, but I was an eight year old girl with a present I hadn't opened yet! I remember asking Grandma if if was OK to open the present, and thinking her answer could go either way...Was I selfish to even ask, considering Fred had nearly died on our front steps only moments earlier? To my delight, she told me it would be fine to see what was in the bag...

It was a stuffed tiger. To this day I do not know why he wanted me to have a stuffed tiger, but there you go...I had one now! I named him Freddie, after the man who almost gave his life to give him to me, and I was happy to do so.

So, for a silly stuffed tiger, Freddie sure entered my life dramatically! Freddie was always displayed in my room through my teenage years, a reminder of my childhood on Poplar Street. During those young adult years when I tried to distance myself from my childhood and find my adult self, Freddie was stored away in my box of memorabilia. Now that I've found my adult self (for the most part...) Freddie has been rescued from storage and is proudly displayed in our bedroom as one of my prized possessions...a constant reminder of how a generous neighbor taught me how good those random acts of kindness feel to receive!!