Moments Marked In Scar Tissue

Today I was looking at a little scar on my thumb that I have had for about nine years now. It's been a part of me for so long that I don't ever notice it anymore. I'm not sure what got my mind going on the idea but I started thinking about all the little scars on my body and where I got them. Maybe they were not important times of my life but it's still a lifetime worth of stories that make me who I am.

When I was in high school I worked at an ice cream store where we used those little malt machines attached to the wall that spin really fast and make that whirring sound. I was good at my job and I was fast so I always had the mixers on high speed even if the ice cream was too hard. One day the cup slipped and I caught my hand in the mixer. I went home with a bloody towel covering the badly cut up hand (nobody wants to be served a blood sundae).All that is left is a quarter inch line on my thumb and pinky.

My knees still show a few little marks of the childhood days of bike riding down gravel hills and roller skating on pavement. I had skinned knees so often it's a wonder they ever healed. Somewhere during that time I recall celebrating the 4th of July in our backyard. My parents were letting me and my brother play with sparklers. Sparklers should be the safest of all fireworks but somehow I got a hot ember on my wrist that has scarred me for life. I've noticed that as I got bigger, so did that white circle.

On that same wrist I have a mark from my old roommate A. I used to pick on her a lot and we would get into playful slapping fights. I grew up with a brother so play fighting seems normal to me. She grew up with a sister so she didn't always play right and she would dig her long nails into my skin. I guess she got a good grip one of those days because I will always have a puffed up white crescent mark to remember the four years we lived together like siblings.

While I was inspecting my hands I noticed a little indentation on the inside of my left arm. It's a chicken pock mark from childhood that I have not thought about in a very long time. I used to have one on my eyelid as well so I grabbed the compact mirror on my desk and sure enough it's still there. It's funny how I can spend time every day applying eyeshadow and mascara but I never notice that indentation. I remember when I had the chicken pox I was allergic to the medication they gave me so on top of the pox I had hives. That sucked.

A few years ago I was having a little fling with an old friend and we ended up at the music museum he worked at in the middle of the night. Long story short I still have the fading marks of carpet burn on my spine.

Last but not least, the most recent scar was obtained some point this past year. I stabbed myself in the leg with a butcher knife. Right through my jeans and into my thigh. I was trying to cut something in a plastic container while it was on my lap. Yeah, I'm an idiot.

I wonder what will be next. How about you? Do you have any interesting scars to share?