sensitive

[Childbride]

so everyone today has been a bit tense, and sensitive about things.

here i go, and will tell you something that's sensitive about me, and maybe in sharing, we can grow.

i have a horrid scar on my neck. my mother wanted me to have plastic surgery on it in high school, but i refused, thinking that the indian in me thought it a battle scar.

imagine... december 29, 1985.

a breakaway stallion, full gallop, across a field with a fifteen year old girl on his back, desperately trick riding bareback to get to the reins between his front legs.

imagine... a john wayne movie, in which there is always the gate to the front yard, or cattle pen, with the one strand of barbed wire across it to keep the posts straight.

imagine coming up to get your bearings from across that pasture just as the stallion goes through that gate.

scars are experiences that partially define who we are. they shape and mold each of us. each of us has a story. a history. a lifetime of experiences... pain and hope, love and regret. we share those here.

i would ask if others would share theirs. i am proud to be a member of this forum.

[stingx]

I still have the very visible scars (imprints) on my back of the railroad tracks I landed on while riding my dirtbike and being eject from it.

I caught a spike in my head when I was 5. I call it a spike but it was a very sharp object I hit my head against under the bed when I got startled play hide and go seek. About 14 stitches to close after I dragged by head on it to free myself.

Not to bore you all with a countdown of all my injuries I'll just leave you with the tally of total stitches I've had...118. Bear in mind I have been riding motorcycles for over 29 years so that's pretty good really.

[just strum]

My wife shot me in my left arm twice and the sad part is she referred to it as a warning shot. Get a divorce, no way she would kill me.

I still have the two scars as a reminder.

[WackyT]

Good tale, CB! You should be proud of who you are. Everybody, as they grow, gain physical and mental scars. Most of them I consider as learning lessons. Anything that doesn't kill you only makes you stronger, right?

I think I have shared enough of myself, by the response from the previous thread I started. Got a scar from that, and I try to not repeat those.

But, I will pass on one of my most treasured values.
(Mods: Please delete if you find this offensive.)
I was taught as a child that if you didn't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. And I respect those who do otherwise.

In other words, treat others as you'd like them to treat you.

[Spudman***]

CB
Your tale reminded me of the time I was riding my Honda 50 mini bike around the ranch and decided I'd go up to the milking barn to do the little jumps we had set up. But stupid me forgot that the hired man had the cows out grazing around the barn to clean up the weeds and had put a strand of electric fence wire across the bridge leading up to the barn. I remembered just as I hit it with my neck and when it pulled me backwards it made my hand twist the throttle even more. It is such a desperate feeling knowing I couldn't let go or slow down but kept speeding up instead and the pressure on my throat felt like it was going to slice my head off. Lucky for me I was tough enough to break the wire and I never even crashed. However, I didn't talk for about a week.

[Spudman***]

My wife shot me in my left arm twice and the sad part is she referred to it as a warning shot. Get a divorce, no way she would kill me.

I still have the two scars as a reminder.

Seriously?

[just strum]

Seriously?

I was waiting for someone to ask, I figured they didn't want to open that can of worms.

No, they are two scars from tattoo removal (laser). One you can barely see anymore and the other is a raised scar about 1.5" long. Occasionally people will ask about them and I tell them that my wife shot me and then I walk away or build a story around it.

You have to admit it's a better story then "oh, I had two tattoo's removed" at which point they come back with "Oh, what were they?"

[Spudman***]

You have to admit it's a better story then "oh, I had two tattoo's removed" at which point they come back with "Oh, what were they?"

What did they say? Billy Bob or Frank? :

[just strum]

What did they say? Billy Bob or Frank? :

As George would say to Jerry Seinfeld

Funny man, funny man. Hey everybody look here we have a funny man.

[thearabianmage]

Scars? All of mine are emotional.

But the thing is, I know other people got it worse. In all fairness my life has not been bad at all. My mother is probably the strongest person I know - I could never describe to anyone here just how strong she is. It's this strength of hers that's given me my strength. And it's that strength which covers the scars of the past.

[street music]

CB's story brought back memories of childhood days of barrelracing horses and the one time that as I turned the corner of a barrel my cinch broke and the world was suddenly upside down with my mare running full out for the gate. Lucky for me I held on till she stopped, I had lumps on my head and my cowboy was a mess but we both survived it and I did get third place.
Scars do come in different forms, physical and mental, I hope that they have made each of us stronger in some way.