I was just trying to give the kids a chance to play a sport that I really love and sure enough, it ends up hurting the one kid in the class who thinks the world of me.

Well, that’s what you get for being selfish!

No, really, one time back in 7th grade, a kid I knew from school who’s name escapes me (I’m going to call him Jeremy because that feels right) and I were playing a game of paper-wad basketball at one of the youth group recruitment pizza parties (or whatever it was) at First Baptist Church. At one point, Jeremy and I both leapt to grab the paper wad. He landed before me, then my elbow caught him in the mouth (like that time you bit my head open while we were playing trampoline dodge ball at Ben’s house, except it was my arm on his mouth instead of your teeth in my head).

I think he asked me if he was bleeding, and I said he was. I couldn’t make out why he had a cut under his lip when my arm had just hit his face. My arm wasn’t sharp. We went to the bathroom. It turns out, like Christian, his tooth had gone through his lip. We sat in the bathroom awhile waiting for the bleeding to stop.

It eventually did stop. As far as I know, Jeremy is still alive today.