The Next Event
Saturday March 20, 1976
“Brian, its time to get ready for bed. Go to the bathroom and brush your teeth.” It was a Saturday in March 1976. My whole family was in our basement watching a movie. If the Salt Lake City schedule was the same as New York City, the NBC Saturday Night at the Movies was John Wayne’s “Chisum.” I got up off the couch, walked past our pool table and into our basement bathroom, closing and locking the door behind me. I urinated, flushed the toilet, washed my hands, and brushed my teeth. When I came back to the family room I reported a problem.
“Mommy, I had blood in my urine.” (We were a very proper family; I would never refer to urine as “pee” to my parents.) This declaration was an attention-getter.
My mother looked at me intently, leaning forward off the couch, and asked, “Why do you think there was blood in your urine?”
“It was kind of reddish-brown,” I stated matter-of-factly.
“When did this happen?”
“Two days ago.”
“Why didn’t you tell me then?”
“I was scared you’d get mad at me.”
“Why would I get mad at you?”
“Because I got in a fight with Michael Webster on the way home from school on Thursday and he punched me in the stomach.”
My mother leaned back into the couch and thought for a moment.
“Brian, if you see blood in your urine, don’t flush the toilet before you come and tell me.”
Questions
- What, if any, are the medical data and metadata in this narrative?
