Something to Remember Me. BYE Short Stories of a Long Life

There's no way of knowing the direction my life might have taken had I not stepped onto a trampoline on my Black Friday after Thanksgiving, 1960.
Or
If I hadn't stopped by my sister's house on that Spring day when the girl in the fuzzy pink sweater and tight beige jeans was there.

Would I even be the person I think I am?
Who knows? Not me.
Our lives are full of forks in roads.
Often not aware that one simple turn ––– a few seconds –––an unlaced shoe, could change everything.

And then there are the forks taken by those before us.
The big ones as well as those that appear inconsequential.

If my grandmother had married the stonecutter.
If my Grandfather didn't survive the cave in.
If my father hadn't ordered chopped chicken-liver from
the cute waitress at that restaurant.

if if if

Sports were a big part of his life until that Friday. Born in the South Bronx, not far from Randall's Island, he learned to play baseball. When the NY Yankees Little League was founded, he was the first player selected.
He later became the catcher on the Long Island Babe Ruth League all-star team which was scouted by Frank Staub, the manager of the Ronkonkoma Cardinals. Staub invited Bruce to try out the following season. Carl Yastrzemski Sr. and Jr. both played the infield.
That November, Bruce broke his neck on a trampoline, becoming a quadriplegic.
After a two-year hospital stay, he realized that his athletic prospects were over.
Although always bored with school, he attended college. Upon graduating from the education program, he taught college courses, until accepting a position instructing elementary students.
Uninspired by his own student experience, he wasn't going to do the same to his students.
Using his creative innovations he aimed to make the classroom a stimulating place.

He married Gina. They spent their honeymoon as members of the Citizens Exchange Corps where they travelled through the U.S.S.R., trying to douse the heat from the cold war.

They moved to Southold where he, by chance, became the first person to drive on the completed Long Island Expressway. Sponsored by an old farmer, Bruce became the youngest member of Custer Institute.
When the drive became too much, they moved close to Stony Brook University.
After retiring, he taught school innovation to teachers.
He presently teaches a course at the University…
Do you ever wonder what you're thinking?