We remember. . . . We remember and recall things that happen to us — especially when we were young. Things that our parents may have said. Done. Friends. Strangers. School. And I remember. With clarity. Fast backward – I’m in 7th grade. Mister Noren’s science class. I don’t remember what the topic was but we got on the subject of liquid nitrogen. I’d probably been drawing silly pictures on my papers (that’s another story) when I got a brilliant idea. Soooooo. . . . I raised my hand. . . . .

Let me back up again – just for a moment. I was never much of a student. I rarely raised my hand in class. Rarely studied (my parents both worked so why bother?). Science class for me was like doing algebra with the Cyrillic alphabet. So . . . .

Mister Noren is talking about liquid nitrogen and how it freezes everything it touches. I have a dozen things noodling through my small brain when I had (what I thought) was a brilliant idea. And I raised my hand. The shock of that act probably stunned Mister Noren but he overcame his surprise and pointed at me. “What would happen if doctors injected liquid nitrogen into cancer tumors?” I mean it sounded like a logical question though that notion was not shared. Mister Noren looked at me and said (I believe I’m quoting) “that’s the dumbest thing I ever heard.” And he went on talking about liquid nitrogen.

A few of my friends turned and hooted at me – but as I learned several decades later, there is a cryotherapy treatment that is occasionally used on certain tumors. I regret I didn’t follow up with a medical degree. And a Nobel Prize. . . .