A Day Billy Bingleman Will Never Forget

This might seem a strange story to share from 1957 (65 years ago). I was walking up the long hill from school and got accosted by Billy, whose dad owned the gas station kitty-corner to our house in Dunsford, Ontario. (You can locate this intersection on Google Earth with the following co-ordinates: 44° 27′ 09.74 N, 78° 38′ 35.43″ W.)

Billy was a bit of a bully. I’m not sure why he kicked me in the rear, but he did, and I started to cry. In order to placate me, he ‘invited’ me to kick him back. My memory says that I did, but not as hard as he kicked me. And out of the corner of my eye, I saw my mother coming down the hill, at full tilt.

I thought I was in for a spanking for doing that back to Billy, so you can imagine my surprise when she flew right past me and started chasing Billy back down the hill. She almost caught up with him, but he evaded her wrath by quickly climbing over a wire fence running along the sidewalk. Mom yelled at him to never touch me again.

Then she came back to me, eyes blazing, and walked me the rest of the way up the hill to our home.

Why am I remembering this now?