The Boy on the Bus
Yesterday, when we were having our regular Skype conversation, Lyn interjected to tell us about the boy on the bus. We listened and tried to cover our surprise when we realized what she was conveying. I'll paraphrase to cut out the stumbles and restarts.
"Do you remember when I used to ride the bus and there was a boy who got on the bus and started having problems?"
I could tell that Mom and I were both thinking of when she rode the city bus to go from home to Wendy's for work in the 1990s. We were scanning our own memories of that decade to recall if there was any incident on the city bus in which a male passenger had some sort of problem. Lyn finally gave us the next clue.
"He died."
Mom's jaw dropped and I looked confused. It clicked for Mom and she remembered what Lyn was recalling. I'm glad Mom was in the conversation to make the connection and provide details, including the boy's name.
Lyn was remembering a class mate of hers from her first year of middle school. It was 1982 and the boy died as a result of his congenital heart condition. He and Lyn rode the same bus to school each day. I don't believe she witnessed his death, but she remembered the events that preceded it.
Is that where her brain is today? Is she back in 6th grade? What synapse firing triggered that memory to surface? If she's at that point in her life, I'm going to have to rely more on Mom to fill in details because they happened before I began to be aware of much beyond myself.
Welcome to Lyn's deep past. No telling what we will find here.
"Do you remember when I used to ride the bus and there was a boy who got on the bus and started having problems?"
I could tell that Mom and I were both thinking of when she rode the city bus to go from home to Wendy's for work in the 1990s. We were scanning our own memories of that decade to recall if there was any incident on the city bus in which a male passenger had some sort of problem. Lyn finally gave us the next clue.
"He died."
Mom's jaw dropped and I looked confused. It clicked for Mom and she remembered what Lyn was recalling. I'm glad Mom was in the conversation to make the connection and provide details, including the boy's name.
Lyn was remembering a class mate of hers from her first year of middle school. It was 1982 and the boy died as a result of his congenital heart condition. He and Lyn rode the same bus to school each day. I don't believe she witnessed his death, but she remembered the events that preceded it.
Is that where her brain is today? Is she back in 6th grade? What synapse firing triggered that memory to surface? If she's at that point in her life, I'm going to have to rely more on Mom to fill in details because they happened before I began to be aware of much beyond myself.
Welcome to Lyn's deep past. No telling what we will find here.
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