Heads up! (#1296)

This is a true story of how I lost my top two front teeth when I was 8 years old. I don't quite remember who yelled "heads up" but at 8 years old, heads up meant tilt your head up to look up high. I did just that in time to get hit in the face with a combination dirt and rock clod. Us boys were out in a field in the neighborhood and we were squared off against some other neighbor boys. It was mostly just a territorial thing among kids who had not come to know each other yet and back then in the early 60's it was not uncommon for strangers to challenge and defend areas adjacent to our domiciles. It was a lot like how we used to form up neighborhood sports teams and go play against each other at the nearest available park, field and even mostly deserted side streets. In this case us brothers wandered out a little to the border of the next neighborhood and some kids didn't want us to be around. So somehow we began throwing dirtclod/rocks at each other in a way that was not intentionally aimed but lobbed to scare us away. Well, being adventurous boys with some courage, we tossed dirtclods/rocks right back at them. As would have to eventually happen, one of us, me, got unlucky enough to be standing looking down for something to throw when the incoming dirtclod/rock found it's unfortunate target, my face. It hit me in the mouth just as I lifted my head to look at what the heads up was all about. Out came my front top two big permanent buck teeth. I remember being stunned but not so much hurt as wondering what had just happened. My older brother John came over and picked up my knocked out teeth and then we went back to our house to tell our parents. My uncle Eddie comforted me and got the blood from running down my chin and helped me through it all in the moment. The rest of the story is what you would expect, off to the dentist and then to the rest of my life. Tomorrow I will recount how I broke my leg, that should make you laugh :)