The three siblings lived North of Hutchinson in the sand hills. Their home was in a heavily wooded area with a large lawn that covered more than a block. The mother was expecting to have twins but when she gave birth there was a third one.
The two girls and a boy were very precocious from the start and trouble was their middle name. It didn’t help that their Dad was not part of the equation but he left shortly after their Mother became pregnant and never came back.
So the Mother had to raise the three on her own. When they were just 3 months old they had an overpowering desire to run off and play out of her site. When they’d catch her back turned eating her lunch or resting in the cool yard, they would take off. Unfortunately they lived on busy Monroe Street.
They would run and jump all the way to the vinyl two rail fence that surrounded the front yard and sat at the edge of the ditch on Monroe. They would scramble over the fence as fast as they could and then it was a mad dash out into the street.
The street seemed to be the place they wanted to play chase me-chase me as they ran up and down the two lanes in front of their home. Then they would dash into the ditch on the other side of the road into a wooded area that sat at the edge of a housing addition.
After a few trips in and out of the trees they’d run back into the street. Then there would be another game of tag up and down the street. The triplets would run in circles and race in and out of the ditch and back onto the road.
About the time they were back on the road again the Mother would realize they were missing and come searching for them. She actually didn’t have to look far because she knew just where they would be. She would scale the fence and race through the ditch and onto the street.
As soon as they saw their Mother in the ditch the three would make one last run down the street, then a circle around their Mother (who was standing in the middle of Monroe) and finally jump into the ditch on their side of the street. They would then scramble over the fence and back into their yard with their Mother in hot pursuit.
One day when I was heading down Monroe into town I came upon this little scene and just stopped and watched the siblings playing in the street. I put my flashers on so the cars coming both directions knew I was stopped. I then sat in my car and enjoyed their game and the fun they were having. I remembered my desire to run off when I was about that age; looking for sweets up and down the block I lived on.
Were these three looking for someone to give them a treat or was it just the fun of the chase that they loved. I am sure their Mother was not as fond of the chase and worried about them every time they ran out onto Monroe to play.
I stayed long enough that day, after she came out to get them, to see the three little siblings run for the back of the yard with their Mother right on their heels as they raced away from the street. I was sure they were in real trouble when she caught up with them.
Whatever punishment they received that day must not have made much of an impression on them because it was a common occurrence, all summer on Monroe, to see them playing in the middle of the street.
Sometimes the Mother would take them on a little excursion, they would walk about a half mile North through the wooded area to a large open field across from our house on Monroe. Once in the open field they would run and play and have a picnic lunch near the trees.
They loved to chase butterflies, birds and the occasional turkey that had the misfortune to cross their path when they were in the field. The native grass in the field was so tall that all you could see were their shoulders and heads above the waving grass. But that just made it more fun to leap and jump as they ran through field.
These three loved to run and play more than any three siblings I have ever seen and they gave their Mother a lot to worry about that summer. I am sure she was very happy when all three survived the summer.
By the end of summer the Mother of the triplets looked a little thin and haggard. They were only three months old when they gave their Mother so much trouble but by the end of that fall they were grown and old enough to be on their own. You see the triplets that loved to play in the middle of Monroe Street that summer were white tail deer. To contact Sandy: [email protected]
