How a Crystal Figurine Revived Forgotten Memories

While surfing the web for some new crystal products to add to my store, I came across a crystal double-wing airplane figurine. It looked a lot like the German Spad from World War I. Immediately I thought back to my childhood and how much I liked the Spad as a model airplane. I remembered buying the kit and building the model when I was 12 years old.

I worked hours building it and took it outside to fly it when it was finished. Well I flew it, it crashed and I repaired it that night. The next day I flew it again, it crashed again and I repaired it again. This went on for 7 more days because I was determined to make it fly and I wanted to see what a warplane looked like in flight. I finally got my answer.

I turned the propeller until the rubber band was as tight as I could get it. I threw the Spad into the wind as hard as I could throw it and oh my, what a sight. The wind caught the plane and lifted it about 20 feet off the ground and forced it into a graceful left turn. I could see the top of the wings as the propeller stopped and the plane lost power as it settled into a straight descending path towards me. I remember thinking if that plane were real, I'd be dead. I was right in its line of fire. And remembering that thought triggered the memory of a story my mother told me about my father.

My father died when I was 4 years old so I only have a few memories of him. My mother and older brother were my source of information about my father. My mother told me about my father's dry sense of humor and how he could turn facts around to make people laugh. He was a master of the "under statement" or using the absurd to make a point. These qualities endeared him to everyone he met, including his commanding officer in the U.S. Army.

When my mother told me the following story, I laughed so hard I was crying. At age 18, my father volunteered to join the army during World War I. He was assigned to the motor pool as a mechanic and truck driver. One day his unit was ordered to deliver ammunition, supplies and troops to the front lines. The 20-truck convoy set out with my father driving the lead truck right behind the officers' vehicle. As they passed through a partially wooded area my father's truck was well ahead into an open area when the convoy was attacked from the rear by 2 German Spads.

The troops and drivers jumped out of the trucks and ran for cover in the trees. Unfortunately, my father and the officers in front of him had nowhere to run. My father crawled under his truck which was fully loaded with ammunition. After the attack was over and the planes flew away, an officer approached my father and said, "Son, why did you hide under an ammunition truck? If they hit it you would have been killed."

My father looked him straight in the eye and replied, "Sir, explosions blow up, not down."

The officer just smiled and walked away. The officers had hidden under their vehicle as well. My father’s rationale; ask a stupid question you get a stupid answer.

It's curious how a crystal figurine revived those forgotten memories from so long ago. Memories from my youth about my passion for building model airplanes and the memory of my father's close call in the war. Curious how the mind works, isn’t it?