It was a late summer Sunday afternoon in 1961 and my parents had driven into downtown Philadelphia to witness the 137th Billy Graham Crusade. I was 7 at the time, and the poster child of what later became known as AD/HD. I certainly didn’t know this then, but I was told that most Philly doctors referred to it by another label, the “Bobby Hampton Syndrome” (BHS). Consequently, my parents knew better than to take me along with them. Like the movie, I was “Left Behind”. By way of hindsight, however, it was a decision they soon regretted. Why?
I did say it was a Sunday afternoon – which in our home meant you did nothing; except wait to go back for three more hours of church that closely mirrored the earlier three hours of church. In the in-between time, you did nothing. I did nothing. I wasn’t allowed to watch TV or go outside to play. Yes, my parents permitted me to go outside – to sit – and do nothing out there. Now please keep in mind, this is back in the pre-Ritalin, Concerta or Adderall days for the “BHS”.
But on this very special Sunday in 1961, my AD/HD was tested to the limit. Three houses down the street, all the neighborhood kids were outside playing stickball, the poor kid’s version of baseball where a broom handle substituted for a bat. Now I knew I couldn’t participate, for doing so carried a parental death sentence. So I watched from a distance, though a close distance. Whether it was the “Devil who made me do it” or my “BHS”, probably both, I caved into the impulse to have a catch with myself. So I picked up the nearest fist-sized rock and tossed it straight up into the air. Well, not exactly straight as its trajectory placed the back window of the sole Cadillac within a 2-mile perimeter in its crosshairs. In my flashback of remembrance, the only thing humorous about that whole day was how all the kids scattered, running to the safety of their own homes, leaving only one kid behind. I was “Left Behind” again.
When mom and dad eventually returned home, they got out their broom handle for another purpose. If you wish to hear “The Rest of the Story”, you’re going to have to come out this Sunday to hear the sermon on the Bible’s 4th Great Commandment: “Honor the Sabbath day and keep it holy”.