Hello everyone and welcome back to another chapter of My 6’7” Life,

I really did not know what I wanted to talk about this week. I was going back and forth between a few ideas, but life was quick to sway my decision. And, I soon was HIT with the perfect topic this week: Blake’s Head Bumps.

Now, you may be wondering how this idea came to light, and I’m happy/embarrassed to tell you. Last Friday, my friends and I were planning to get dinner together, and we all gathered in Atherton lobby to walk together. We were simply going to Redifer which is less than a thousand feet away. However, on our journey to Redifer, a catastrophic failure occurred…

When walking, I hit my head on a tree branch, and it cut my entire forehead open. Now, I know that you are probably laughing, but you have to understand that I forgot how tall I was. Just moments before, I saw all my friends walk right under the same tree with no problem. They didn’t even have to duck. They just walked right under, so I had no reason to believe that I needed to duck. However, all my friends are at least 6 inches shorter than me, so following their social cues was probably not the best idea. Nonetheless, I had a giant gash across the entirety of my forehead.

At first, I did not think that it was anything bad. It felt like a simple scratch. But, it was raining at the time, and we forgot umbrellas. Thus, I was a little wet, so I could not tell if I was initially bleeding or not. However, walking into Redifer, I was met with a bunch of horrifying looks. Everyone looked at me like I was the girl from Carrie and rightfully so. During the remaining minute walk to Redifer, blood soaked my entire face. Let’s just say that it was not a pretty sight. I ran back to my room in pain and shock. I had to clean myself up with towels, Neosporin, bandaids, and much more. I sent my mom a picture of the event, and that was probably not my best idea. In my five minutes of clean up, I had 14 miss calls and 21 text messages from my mom. Nonetheless, I cleaned myself up and applied the appropriate aid, and all was back to normal except for the giant cut on my head.

Unfortunately, this is a common occurrence for me because of my height. Over the years, I have had one concussion and knocked myself out 3 times. Believe it or not, I commonly forgot that I am tall, so I often forget to duck and watch my head when needed. Thus, I hurt myself a lot. I clearly remember the first that I knocked myself out. It was a summer after a big growth spurt, and I was visiting my grandma. Now, my grandma has a colonial house, so the ceilings and doors are very low. So, when I first arrived and made my usual trek to the kitchen, I did not anticipate that I would hit my head on the 6 foot door frame and knock myself out.

Today, I am very cautious if we forget my most recent slip. I typically duck no matter what. It has become an instinct. Even in my dorm, I have to duck under every door because I am just that close to hitting my head. My friends find it funny that I always duck under doors that are absurdly tall, but honestly I don’t trust doors or archways. Doors and I have an “on and off” relationship, so it is going to take a little more time. But for now, I am going to awkwardly contort my body under anything that might bonk my head.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you had a nice laugh,

Blake