Remember When: School Days Part 9

I’m continuing today with another story from my school days. Marilyn’s story yesterday reminded me of another episode that took place at the Silver Stream school in Manitoba, probably in about 1958 or 1959.

All of the students at that school lived on farms in the area. I walked the mile and a half each day unless the weather was extremely bad but by the time this story took place I was probably riding my bike in good weather.

It didn’t make much difference what the weather was like we usually played outside at recess times and at noon as soon as we had eaten our lunches. Our activities were governed by the weather and ranged from games of Pom Pom Pull-Away, Prisoners Base, Dodgeball, Annie I Over, Tag, 3 Flies Up, and of course Baseball. In winter we played Fox and Goose, built snow forts, and staged snowball fights.

There were seldom any fights although every once in a while someone would catch a snowball in the face, a swing board to the head or fall out of a tree. Then Miss Enns would get to practice here first aid skills.Most days were disaster free.

Like pretty well every classroom anywhere we had our class clown. Walter was a couple of grades above me and his desk was three or four seats behind me in my row. He was very thoughtful and considerate of the younger kids and would include them in games and support them fully. However, he was always acting the fool with weird sounds, jokes and comments. Anything to get a laugh.

One day during class as most of us were concentrating on our lessons, some strange noises erupted from the row behind me. We all turned to look, expecting to witness Walter doing one of his comedy routines again only to discover him thrashing around on the floor. Many of us still thought it was just another one of his stunts but luckily Miss Enns knew better and she rushed to his aid.

Turned out he was having a grand mal seizure which I had never heard of before that day. In those days the standard procedure was to insert something between their teeth to prevent them from biting their tongue. That is no longer an approved action I’m told.While some of the older boys held his arms and legs to prevent him from hurting himself, someone brought a rolled up jacket to put under his head, and Miss Enns inserted something in his teeth but for the life of me I can’t remember what it was. Might have been a pencil.

Within a few minutes the thrashing and jerking subsided and order was returned to the classroom but the event sits in my memory as if it happened only yesterday. Best wishes Walter wherever you are.I think of you every time I take another First Aid course.

If any of our readers has a similar story or would like to share memories of their favorite recess games we’d love to hear about them. Either reply to this email if you’re reading it that way or use the comment section below on the website.

Bill Gould

**Bill Gould** spent 43 years as a long-haul truck driver before trading the steering wheel for a keyboard to help fellow Canadians navigate the road of retirement. A freelance writer, published author, and editor of over 50 books, Bill co-founded *Canadian Senior Moment* with his wife, Marilyn, to provide a trusted space for seniors to find clarity, safety, and connection in the digital age. When he isn’t troubleshooting “tech gremlins” or sharing childhood memories of the Prairies, he can be found in his woodshop or working on his latest novel.