The Boogeyman Cometh BY MICHAEL LITREL, MD, FACOG, FPMRS
Bridget was a patient of mine who, like in on the secret and bought us each a cone. I broached the Boogeyman story the me, was born in July. She came to my office other day to ascertain my mother’s last week, and we started comparing notes. rationale. How could a mother lie to her We agreed on the obvious advantage to helpless children? The memory made my a July birthday, that it’s midway between mom giggle all over again. Christmas. “What can I say?” she said, when she had Bridget told me that when she was a little finished laughing. “I was a smart mother. girl, her mother used to say all the beautiful No annoying kids begging for money for the fireworks in the sky were to celebrate her ice cream man!” birthday. Bridget was crushed when she From left, Chris, Mary and Dr. Michael Litrel. My mother doesn’t like conflict. Mary finally realized it was a family myth. She was born in China during World War II, and her earliest memories asked me if my mother had told me something similar. are of bombing and death. She came to America when her father Her question made me laugh. The stories my twin brother became a translator for the fledgling United Nations in New York Chris and I heard from our mother were a different sort. For after the war. After this stormy childhood, what she craved most example, the summer we were 5 years old, Mom told us that was peace and quiet. the ice cream truck, with its tinkling song and bell, was the Instead, she was blessed with twin sons and an Italian husband Boogeyman coming to get us. who agreed with the adage, boys will be boys. Whenever Chris We couldn’t understand why the other neighborhood kids ran outside every time the Boogeyman rang his bell. But Chris and I weren’t waiting to find out. We ran into the house and hid in the closet. Our aunt came to visit one day and wondered aloud to my mother why Chris and I were so frightened. Mary explained in a fit of giggles. My aunt was appalled. Taking pity on us, she let us
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Michael Litrel, MD, FACOG, FPMRS is board certified in the subspecialty female pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgery. He is a board certified urogynecologist and obstetrician/ gynecologist at Cherokee Women’s Health Specialists. www.cherokeewomenshealth.com.
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