The big trip to the east coast came to a close. The summer routine resumed. Dad and my brother worked harvest. The days were long and my sister and I were left at home with Mom.

The trip had been wonderful and exhausting all at the same time. I had new memories of extended family. The time with my grandmother was special. I felt safe again for the few days I had with her.

Summer passed quickly and school started. It was a big year for my brother as he started his senior year. I started junior high which meant that I would be in another part of the building. Grades seven through twelve were all in the same area. PE was now part of the curriculum that required locker room changing and communal showering. I was completely unprepared for the change.

I quickly figured out that the teachers were not my allies. I was compared to my brother and always found lacking.

At home Dad and Mom would point out how my brother would underline verses in his Bible. I was expected to follow his example. Because it was his senior year efforts were made for it to be special.

My brother came to my rescue one day at school. PE was the first class after lunch break. I would go to the locker room to change clothes well before class time so I could avoid contact with other students. One day a classmate tried to drag me into the gymnasium while I was naked. The effort was thwarted when my bother came into the locker room and saw what was happening. He put a stop to it. I was embarrassed for him to have seen what had happened.

Another time I was showering and a classmate started urinating on me. I moved away quickly only to have the teacher call me out for “running” away. The punishment was 100 push ups in front of the entire class while unclothed. Physically, I was unable to complete the punishment. That evening at home my brother told Dad and Mom what had happened and I was required to finish the push ups at home.

One other trauma was when my class quit talking to me. I was completely shunned. They would throw things at me during classes whenever the teacher was not looking.

The school year finally ended and I found limited refuge at home. The focus was to get my brother off to college in the fall. That year when harvest came around there were several young men who came to the area to work. Each Saturday night they would come to our house to spend the night. Because my bother and I shared a bedroom I was displaced for the guys to have a place to sleep.

The church youth group was vibrant during the harvest season. The services were filled with music. There was energy with all of the visitors contributing their gifts and talents to the congregation. Sunday evenings after church we would gather for a final snack before everyone went their way. I remember lots of laughter.