No More Monkey's Jumping on the Bed

That popular children's song about monkeys jumping on beds and falling off and breaking their heads has always had great meaning for me. When I was four some of my siblings and I woke up and proceeded to jump on my bed. Things were great until I decided I wanted to jump and land on my back. I bounced off my back sideways and hit the desk next to my bed splitting my lip causing me to need 4 stitches. This last year I kinda got a little chubby and the scar became much more visible. I had 3 or 4 people ask me if I had a cleft pallet when I was a child. I politely explained what had happened when I was four years old.


If people were curious before as to whether or not I had a cleft pallet they will be more so now. Last night after 2 hours of vigorous racquetball I was chasing a ball towards the back wall when the ball hit the corner and took an unexpected bounce. In my haste to change the trajectory of my racket I failed to miss the tip of my shoe which catapulted the business end directly at my face. Completely missing the ridiculous-looking protective eye-wear that I adorn, the racket smacked me precisely on my upper lip right on the other side of my face from my old scar. I knew immediately from the reaction of my opponents that I was hurt pretty badly, not to mention the searing pain in my face. I called a friend who rushed me to a late night urgent care center where I received four stitches. My only regret is that this time I was not a good enough boy to receive a lollypop from the nurse. I guess they assumed I had grown out of that, or maybe she did not appreciate me asking her if she would kiss it better. ;)