One summer day in Orangevale, I believe it was a Saturday, Kevin was off playing with the neighborhood kids at the school playground. His mother and I were busy doing chores around the house. 

All of a sudden, we heard a pounding on the door and a panicky voice hollering: “Mr. Printz! Mr. Printz!”  I ran to the door and one of Kevin’s friends was standing there, all out of breath and looking scared.  He said, “Kevin hit his head on the monkey bars and he isn’t moving.”  We all jumped into the car and sped to the school, which was about 5 or 6 blocks away. 

When we arrived, Kevin was just sitting up with a bunch of concerned kids gathered around him.  He looked dazed and his mouth area was bloody.  After much confusion, the following story emerged from Kevin and the other kids. 

The boys had been playing follow-the-leader on their bicycles.  One of the smaller kids, on a small bicycle was leading the way; Kevin was the next in line.  The leader wasn’t having any luck shaking the rest of the kids and he got more daring with each attempt.  Finally, he drove straight into the monkey bars, and being small, he was able to duck under the lowest bars and made it through.  Kevin was right behind him, and in the heat of the moment, didn’t realize his dilemma.  Being a head taller than the leader and on a taller bike, Kevin couldn’t get below the bar.  It hit him right in the mouth.  He was knocked to the ground, unconscious.  The fact that he was just coming out of it 10 minutes later would indicate he suffered a serious concussion.  Upon further examination, it was revealed that two of his teeth, just left of center, had been broken off on a slant – about a third of the leftmost tooth was gone along with the left corner of the centermost tooth.  There were also some pretty severe cuts to his lips and mouth – but nothing that wouldn’t heal in a week or so.

I don’t remember taking him to the doctor but I would sure hope we did.  A blow to the head like that can cause damage that can cause brain swelling and death at some later time.  I wonder if I knew that at the time.  Anyway ..... I do remember taking him to the dentist.  He recommended against fixing Kevin’s broken teeth until he was an adult.  He said that any capping would have to be replaced periodically as Kevin’s teeth grew and it could prove to be very expensive – we didn’t have any dental insurance in those days.  Kevin's broken teeth were capped when he was in high school, but by then, he had already acquired the lop sided smile that I recall so well.