In this story, I was about 5 or 6 years old. It was the summer of 1972 or 1973. I only have a few vague memories for this story. You will have to ask Kris and Kelly for their version to get a better picture of what really happened.
We went on a picnic up the canyon. I do not remember if we drove a tractor or some other vehicle. We were in the pasture below the "board gate." But we were walking to find the best picnic area to have our lunch. I think Mom was carrying Cory. Kris and Kelly were helping Cade and me.
We came to Miller Creek. The creek was 2-3 feet wide at this point. Kelly jumped across. Kris decided to "throw" me across the creek. She picked me up and threw me. I believe Kelly was supposed to catch me. But he did not have a chance as I did not get that far.
Basically, Kris threw me into the middle of the creek!
What I remember from this story is that I was laying on the bottom of the creek bed. It was gravelly. My feet were upstream. The water was running over my whole body. To me, it seemed like slow motion as I watched a hand reach down through the water to grab me and pull me out of the creek. I also remember the beautiful sunny day for the picnic.
[NOTE: I am not trying to throw Kris under the bus with this post. She was doing the best she knew how to get me across the creek without getting wet.]
The rest of the story...
After I originally published this story, I asked Kris and Kelly to provide their version of this experience as well.
From Kelly...
I think we were fencing. We had a picnic in the corner where the strawberries grew.
From Kris...
`Jon, Cade, and I were alone. I was trying to find the spring to get a drink. I was big enough to jump across the creek, but `Jon and Cade were not. I thought I could throw `Jon over and then Cade. Then, I would jump over and we would be on our way.
When I threw `Jon over, his feet hit the bank and he fell backward, headfirst into the water. I quickly jumped into the water and pulled him out. He coughed and then said he could breathe under water.
I then straddled the creek and handed Cade over on dry ground. We found the spring and then headed home. Mom wasn't very happy to see `Jon all wet.
Revised Conclusion...
As you can see three people have different memories of this experience. Some day, I hope to watch the replay of my life on video to see "what really happened!"
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