Theodore M.
Q: Are you sure you just didn't want to read some more?
A: Well, no, because even if I did, it didn't work. One of our neighbors used to
drive up to town-it was only about three-quarters of a mile-and so she would
drive me to school every day, and I came home on my crutches. Now, you
know, three-quarters of a mile is not too far to walk on crutches, but it caused
me to wear the tips out about once a week. I remember at the end of the week
after the tip was worn out, if you didn't get a new one on quick enough, well,
the wood tended to open up like a cauliflower and the crutch would be a bit
shorter.
But anyway, that didn't last very long. I got to the point where I was all right
again, and I was a key person on the intramural basketball team because I had
gained in height-I had grown about six inches while I was in the hospital
because they were feeding me protein and milk and everything to make my leg
grow a little bit longer. So I had suddenly become perhaps the tallest person in
the class, and I was in great demand as the center on the intramural high school
basketball teams. In those days, you remember, after every basket the ball
came back to the center for the tip-off, and even though I wasn't very fast on
the court, I had the edge on everybody else for tipping off. Aside from that, I
was probably the world's worst basketball player, and I never was really good
at team sports.
But we did play softball. I used to play softball. Until I was in the fourth grade,
I couldn't do much of that kind of sport, but when I got to the fifth grade after
the operation that strengthened my foot, even then I was one of the tallest
people in the class. We used to play softball at lunchtime, and we played a
game called three-at-the-bat. Everybody called off-the first three in
numbers and then the rest in team positions. The first three would be at bat and
then the next one would be catcher, pitcher, first, second, third base, shortstop,
and all the way out in the field. No matter how many people were there, you
could always play without organizing a team or anything, and you progressed
upward through each position as the batters were put out, and when you were
put out you became "last-man-in-the-field.
Well, there were three fellows that were bigger or tougher than I was in the
fifth grade and-so they always were the first three, you know, and if you
argued with them you might find yourself looking at a fist. So, I would be
four, and would start as catcher. That was the one position I could play with
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