Karen Runs Through the Glass

Karen Runs Through the Glass

The PMQ’s had large glass doors in the front and in the back on the ground level.  These doors did not have stoppers on them and they often slammed shut with a huge bang when the wind ripped through the halls from the front of the building to the back.  This would cause the glass to sometimes shatter, leaving the frame empty.  It would take a while for the glass to be replaced. Kids got accustomed to jumping through the large opening, naturally, as that was much easier than opening the door, which the empty hole made unnecessary.  Since those responsible didn’t always get around to painting the pane as quickly as they should have, to indicate there was a window, on unfortunate occasions, the kids would inadvertently jump into the glass.

So it happened one day to Karen.  There was a frantic knock at the door.  A woman was speedily explaining to my mother to come, come quickly, Karen is losing a lot of blood.  I wanted to go with her, but I was cautioned to stay put.

All I got were the stories of what happened to Karen that day.  She ran through the window.  There was so much blood, towels full.  The ambulance couldn’t come.  She went in a car with Mom’s friends. She cut her face badly. Did she lose an eye? Her nose?  What was going on under all that blood?  

She survived to tell the tale.  She had a gash in her face from her tear duct in her eye that went half way down her cheek.  For weeks she had a large dark scab on her face.  She went to London, England for plastic surgery. Over the years the scar faded and I never noticed it anymore.  It just became part of who she was and it never seemed to bother her.