...I thought I better write it down. I was so young I do not have a personal awareness of this happening, but hearing him talk about it brought back a memory of hearing it from my mom years ago. I will have to assume it is true, but I was of such a tender age, it is not in my memory, plus the details are so distressing I would prefer to believe it did not happen.
My brother said he and a neighbor found a can of green paint, stored in a shed belonging to the family that lived next door. The vandals did not find brushes, but were not discouraged, and used pieces of cardboard for paint brushes and painted ME. I apparently was so delighted that the guys were giving me some attention, I stood right there and let it happen. I'm guessing I was maybe four or five years old, and he would have been possibly six, with his accomplice of an age between the two of us. Pretty likely that the guys were old enough to know it was not a good idea, but when they were left unsupervised for long enough, mischief would likely occur.
In the retelling, he reported that it was a latex paint, which is a thousand times better than thinking it was an oil base as far as the cleaning up of a paint-covered four year old is concerned. I was surprised to hear that it was a water based paint, as I did not think latex existed that long ago. But I will be thankful that my hide is still intact, and did not get scrubbed off in the paint removal process. Fortunately, we all lived to tell about it. There was no mention of any one being punished for the surreptitious activity - so after the child turned back to a normal color, perhaps the adults all had a good laugh?
When I heard my mom tell this years ago, the thing I remember her saying is that the only thing she could see that made her know it was me was my eyes. Everything else was covered in green paint. That's all I know.
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