The early 1980s were a scary time for parents with toddlers. A week did not go by without the media reporting children developing Reye’s syndrome, an often fatal condition following a viral infection like the flu or chickenpox.
After two miscarriages, Liz and I quietly began to accept the prospect of being childless. Then, in 1974, we received the good news that we were with child again.
I hated that old rooster, because he always chased me when I gathered eggs. But in this tale from my youth, that old rooster picked the wrong time and the wrong place for a winner-takes-all battle for “King of the Barnyard.”