When I was 16, and not long before I got married, I was trying to light a fire in our wood heating stove. I was having trouble getting it to light, so I decided to give it a nudge by throwing some kerosene on the paper and kindling and toss in a match. Daddy had taught us not to ever put kerosene on live coals, but I saw nothing but spent wood ashes. We always kept a small can of kerosene near by, so I grabbed it and tossed it toward the back of the wood. Almost immediately after tossing in the lighted match, it exploded sending me reeling back onto the floor. The force of the blast surprised me. I felt extreme heat on my face and smelled scorched hair. I reached up to feel my hair and found it was singed above the top of my forehead and my eye brows were frizzed. Daddy came running in with mama trailing him to see what had happened. My dad was the usual fire starter and was so glad I was not hurt that he calmly said "Lois, haven't I told you never add kerosene to a live coal?” He understood when I explained I did not think there were any live coals. Dad was a person who never scolded much in a situation like that. His philosophy was it was a lesson learned and no one would not repeat the situation again. Later, when I looked in the mirror, I saw that my super long eye lashes were singed almost down to the eyelid. Luckily, I must have closed my eyes during the blast as they were not injured at all. My lashes had not grown out when I married almost two months later. I felt my long eye lashes were one of my best assets, but felt I was blessed not to have had a serious eye injury.

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Created December 24, 2020

Updated: 14 June, 2021

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