Who Has a Weird Scar Story?

It’s been a rough two years for our 9 year old. She developed Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis in her legs, and then was in an accident that broke her jaw, knocked out her teeth, and has caused part of her upper lip to become deformed and not move quite right.

She was looking at it in the mirror this afternoon when she sighed that she was the only person on earth with a weird and ugly scars – one on her face and another one on her leg from a sock. (I don’t know how she got the sock one, that’s just where she said it came from.) I told her that lots of people have weird scars, they’re a sort of right of passage. She looked at me skeptically, so I’m out to prove her wrong, and show her that she’s not alone.

Tell me your weird scar story. I don’t need pictures unless you want to send them. Please help me show her that strange stuff happens to everyone, and that perfect bodies are more rare than the scarred up kind.

I’ll go first.

I have a rope burn scar on my left ankle from where I got dragged by a cow.

Yes. A cow.

My grandparents has a calf named Sugar that was a bit of a pet. My grandmother would stake her in the front yard under the pecan trees on nice days to help control the weeds. One day when I was eight, she sent me to move Sugar from one side of the yard to the other.

The long rope laid on the ground in coiled loops, and I stepped into one of them to pull the stake out of the ground. As I did, I lost my balance and fell backwards. My falling must have spooked Sugar, because she took out running like the devil was chasing her.

That rope whipped off the ground until it drew taught around my left ankle and yanked me onto my back. She was going at top speed and dragged me, screaming and crying, across an acre of cornfields.  We whooshed past my Grandpa and he hollered “Let go of the rope!” I opened my hand and the stake flew out and I banged to a halt as the calf kept running taking the darned rope with her.

That was 30+ years ago, and I still have a stripe around my ankle to remind me of the time a cow dragged me through the cornfield. The rope burn sure was ugly back then, but I’m pretty fond of it now. It reminds me of the girl I was, and how funny life can be.

It also reminds me of the tastiest burger I ever ate. Some people think revenge is a dish best served cold, but I’ll tell you that thought it was delicious on a sesame seed bun with a big slice of cheddar.

Now, it’s your turn. Let’s fill the com box with the goofy things that have happened and the scars we wear to remind us of them.