The Last Firecracker

Snapshots In My Time, Of My Time.....Hauntings.

The States-Fourth of July Weekend...1972

A friend of mine and her mother came over to spend the day with our family on holiday. Her mother and my mother were teachers at the same school so we had been friends for a long time. Her name was Paula. Paula and I were kind of opposites but we got along very well. I was so thin kids in the neighborhood called me "chicken bones" for many years. Paula was a chubby girl who really struggled with her weight. We had many play dates together for many years. Well...they came over for the holiday and after all the eating was over there was nothing left to do but fire off some fireworks.

I was never a big firework person. I really was afraid of them. The thing that I loved and was not afraid of was sparklers. I could like up a sparkler with a punk in no time. Well, I think that Paula and her mother were the ones to bring over fireworks that day. They had bottle rockets and sparklers, and firecrackers and cherry bombs. I stayed clear of most of them. I did the sparklers and stayed on the stoop out of the way when Paula was doing the other fireworks. All our parents were outside so we were being supervised.

Paula had exploded just about all the fireworks and had gotten down to the last firecracker. I left the stoop and came down onto the lawn about five feet behind Paula waiting for her to throw the last one so we could do something else---like jump rope.

Paula lit the firecracker in front of her and then raised her hand over her head to throw it up and away from her. Unfortunately, when she raised her hand over her head the firecracker slipped out of it and flew back toward my face and exploded on my left cheek right next to my ear. That was the end of the picnic of course.

I had a small cut on my cheek but the worst thing of all was the I had sudden and constant ringing in my ears. I did not go to the emergency room that night as I had no real wound. I did go see my pediatrician when the week started again. The peditrician checked me out and did hearing tests and basically said that due to the loud explosion right next to my ear I would have ringing in my ears for a while. He said that eventually it would stop.....most likely.

I did have ringing in my ears for about 2 years. All of a sudden it would just begin and all other sound would be blocked out until the ringing subsided. Finally after that two year period the ringing did subside and it did go away all together. I do not think I have even been close to a firecracker again after that. When I am around others who are on holiday and doing fireworks, I am always aware of the exact location and what party is about the throw "the last firecracker."
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