My Walter Mitty Experience

This week I have been thinking about Walter Mitty. You may remember that he was the fictional character in James Thurber’s short story, “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.” Walter Mitty was a mundane person who spends time in heroic daydreams.

With this as inspiration I thought back on my own life and all the heroic things I might have done or the hero I might have been.

I might have been a great basketball player. In fact I did have a good start. In Junior High School I was a star guard on our very small team. I even made First team Sub-District. Of course in those days girls only played half-court. I couldn’t have shot a basket if I had to. My success was in stealing the ball. When an opponent made a high dribble I would step right in and steal it; then throw it across court to a waiting Forward. I’ll admit that being tall for my age helped under the basket as most of my opponents were in the 5’1” or 5’2” range.

I reached the zenith of my career when I was a Freshman in High School. I made first team. This was really quite a feat for a Freshman. But I never got to play a game and the world lost a star player.

During practice for that first game I discovered that these team members were larger and stronger than I was used to. I stumbled and a large, country girl stepped on my ankle. I fell in such a way that both my ankles were affected—one broken and one slightly sprained. I crawled off the floor.

In those days sports medicine and rehabilitation were very different from today. I was told to stay off my feet with my legs elevated. For weeks I was inactive. My ankles continued to swell and even to this day they are unsightly lumps. Come to think of it that’s another career down the drain. I might have been a model for stockings.

By my sophomore year my interest in basketball had been superseded by my interest in boys. I never went back to the sport and I am a great star—only in my daydreams.