Blogging Challenge Day 2 #NaBloPoMo

Today's topic is to write about a strong memory at recess.

Oddly enough, this is easy to remember. I was in the 2nd grade, I believe. I was a student at St. Mary's Catholic School, yes I was a Catholic school girl, only until the 4th grade. As all Catholic schools are set up, we had our school building and then the church next door. Between the church and school was a large playground that was chained off. The chained off areas were put up during the school day and after school were opened up as this was how parents drove through to pick up their kids. The younger students, myself included, played on the side of the building which had a merry go round and a large area marked by yellow lines, which many of the boys used for soccer and kick ball.

I remember a large crowd gathering around one of the students in my class, Nathan, who I could see laying on the ground. He wasn't moving and I wasn't exactly sure what had happened, but I noticed he was near one of the chained off areas. The students were escorted inside while the teachers and nuns attended to him. When we got back to class, my teacher was gone for quite a while, but when she returned, she informed us that Nathan had been in an accident. Apparently he went running after a kick ball and didn't see the rope/chain and ran right into it. Because we are 2nd graders, the chain hit him, at arms length. I can't remember my teachers' name, but she proceeded to draw a diagram of what an arm bone looked like, then drew one with a crack in it, to demonstrate what happens when one breaks their arm. I immediately felt hot and sick; such a precursor to my lack of ability to deal with blood or emergency situations. It did turn out that Nathan broke his arm. He returned to class the next day with a cast and from that point on, there were orange cones next to all of the chains; to alert rambunctious children.

Who knew a 2nd grader and chains could be so dangerous!