It was an ordinary day. Sitting in the darkroom as 8:00 a.m. at Mannheim Township High School, talking with the students in my 1st period photography class. Talking about a variety of items which included a brief description of what had happened to my pointer finger on my right hand the day before when I got it caught in the printing press and had to be taken to the hospital. Was telling the class that I was lucky that it didn't need to be removed when.....all of a sudden...one of my students fell off his stool, to the floor, unconscious! I quickly got off my chair, told one student to go for the nurse, told the rest of the students to sit around the table and be quiet, then knelt next to Noel, who was slowly showing signs of regaining consciousness. He didn't show any signs of bleeding as I got down on my knees next to him. I asked him how many fingers I was holding up on my hand and he responded correctly. He said he hadn't eaten anything for breakfast and when I showed the class my finger, he just couldn't take it! After realizing he was going to be OK, I looked at him and said..."Now we're even!" The rest of my students looked at me in shock as Noel got the biggest smile on his face, knowing exactly why I had said that to him. That story began a few years before when he was one of the players on my Jr. Midget baseball team that I coached. He was a pretty big boy for 14 years old and could really hit the ball. Our team was a Jr. Midget team, between the Midget-Midget and Midget aged teams. I was pitching batting practice to the team one summer day when he lined a ball back at me that knocked my glove off off my hand, sending me to the hospital to see if it had broken the fore-finger on my left (glove) hand. Was twisted and hurt like crazy, and as I walked past him to the car, that's when I first said, while smiling, "I'll get even with you one day!" Well, my line to him as I stood next to him in the darkroom made him laugh...loudly! He knew exactly what I meant...didn't need for me to tell him a thing! I helped him to a chair and by then the nurse had arrived with a wheelchair to take him to her office. I told her I think he will be OK, but she insisted taking him to her office so she could check him out. As he left the darkroom on the wheelchair, he looked at me once again with the big smile still on his face and said, "Yep! Now we're even!" I made my way back to my classroom where the students had returned and they wanted to know why Noel had such a big smile on his face when he went past them on the wheelchair. I told them Noel can tell them when he gets back to class the next day. I told my class that Noel would be OK, but never did answer them! I haven't seen Noel since he graduated from high school years and years ago, but I'm absolutely sure that if we were ever to meet again, he will bring up the story of my finger and his fainting. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.
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