When in the 6th grade I tried a cool stunt, riding a bicycle hands free, that I’d seen many a buddy do.
Unfortunately my personal sense of balance was not up to the task. Down I went and skinned a shoulder. Then came riding back home but without trying that again.
Mom was horrified at the sight and gave me an entire blueberry cobbler that she’d been baking for dinner. I didn’t refuse it LOL. Dad had been riding along with (that’s another story) and once he verified no broken bones, he was like, what’s the big deal.
Another time Dad and I were riding together and Dad came to a stop putting his foot down on what he thought was terra firma, but actually was a culvert. Flip, and Dad was upside down in the culvert. “DAD! ARE YOU OK!?!?” Dad just said something like get that damn bike off of him, and I kind of helped him get it out of the culvert. Not a peep out of him otherwise... a real stoic.
There was an old lady (around 70) in the church. When she found out I had horses, she showed me a scar on her arm that was from shoulder to elbow.
When she was 12, she was riding a horse that reared and fell on top of her. She broke a half dozen ribs and tore her arm from shoulder to elbow. After the horse rolled off her, her Dad came over, looked at her, and said, “I told you to lean forward if a horse rears. You pulled him over on top of you. Go inside and get cleaned up!”
It was her Mom who took her to the doctor. THAT was stoic!
“When in the 6th grade I tried a cool stunt, riding a bicycle hands free, that I’d seen many a buddy do.”
I could get all the way to jr high school without hands (except when I had to stop).