Tonight, while browsing an old photo album I recently borrowed from my mother, I came across some pictures from a Florida vacation we took with family friends. My mother had written 1958 at the top of the picture. That means I had just turned four. And I clearly remember that vacation. I remember the big old car all eight of us drove in to Sarasota. I remember staying in a tall hotel on the beach. I remember a long bridge. I remember getting all dressed up one day. I don't remember why though.
Isn't memory funny? It's so selective. Why do we remember some things and forget others? Perhaps I remember that vacation because the dad of the family we traveled with kidded me for years. Apparently, I had asked for water repeatedly the whole 10 or 12 hour trip. But, I don't remember that.
Here I am looking like a happy chubby boy. My mom liked to keep my hair short and easy to care for. So how about you? What are some of your early recollections? What triggers memory for you? Is it a smell, a song, a special food or a old vacation photo?
My first memory is of my 4th birthday...I got a toy logging truck for a gift....silver and orange.
ReplyDeleteBelieve it or not, I DO remember being in the crib as a toddler. I remember looking down from my crib at the powder blue carpet in my room when I should've been napping. I also remember noticing the changing patches of sunlight and shadows in the room as clouds would momentarily cover the sun.
ReplyDeleteHmmmm... I remember shutting myself and my sister in a tin trunk - I was four, Jeanie two. We were there for a long time. I clearly recall the game turning to panic. I am pretty claustrophobic as a result - it's a very strong memory!
ReplyDeleteLots of happy memories too, but that's probably the earliest...
:-)
BB
Like Mod Girl, I do have a memory of being in my crib and biting the nipple off of my bottle, and the warm milk spilling all over my front. I also remember the fuss it caused.. my mother reaching in to clean me up. I'm guessing she was probably glad I wasn't breastfed. ;)
ReplyDeleteMy earliest memory is riding in my metal stroller as a baby. It had wooden beads on a wire across the front!
ReplyDeleteI remember being in my crib and also having the measles as a toddler. I woke up one morning in my crib and started to cry because I couldn't open my eyes. I had an eye infection which was one of the onset synptoms of "hard" measles My earliest memory is crawling under the dining room table. My mom had her back to me, she was dusting furniture. I remember she was wearing a scarf on her head. I was probably 2 or 3 at the time. I think I only remember this because it was my first memory. Nothing exciting about the event, just my "C Drive" clicked in at that moment and I never forgot it.
ReplyDeleteCute picture of itsy bitsy Stevie! And interesting post!
I just read Modgirl's comment and remembered ho I used to watch the changing patterns of sunlight on the wall instead of sleeping when I was supposed to be napping.
ReplyDeleteI remember from the age of 2 1/2, teasing my dad while he was washing the car and he'd keep spraying us with the hose. I remember being deathly afraid of all animals until we got 2 kittens and my 5 yr. old sister spent a great deal of time slowly teaching me to pet them. Having a snowball fight with our parents and then coming in for hot cocoa and finding out I'd broken out with measles. Riding my tricycle when I was 3, winding between piles of burning leaves in the fall. My memories are often like snapshots, with lots of detail but no perspective.
ReplyDeleteYes to all four things mentioned in your last sentence. Smells, songs, foods and old photos can bring the past rushing back! Faster than you can say "Recall!"
ReplyDeleteOne of my earliest memories is being in junior kindergarten and waiting impatiently for my sister to do up my boots when it was time to go outside. She was in another classroom but I would wait for her to come into mine and do them boots up. My teacher was not happy about this state of affairs and reprimanded me in my report card about it!
I am gradually trying to write my life's memories down so that my adult children and grandchildren will one day have them to read to see what life was like then. I only have a few old letters and an old notebook of my Dad's for his memories, which didn't have many words in it. Valuable to me though. - Dave
ReplyDeleteMy earliest memories are when I lived in Ft. Lauderdale when I was three. We lived there for 6 mos. while my daddy worked there. I think there were so many different things from Indianapolis that it made special memories for me. Florida was so pretty and we did so many fun things with relatives I had never seen before. When I get a scanner I will post pictures of that time. We drove to Fla. in our Nash and we sang, "Ain't Got a Barrel of Money/Side by Side". We drank Dr. Pepper and stayed in little cabin type places on our trip. Thanks for reminding me of this. BTW you looked so cute there on the beach!
ReplyDeleteI can remember waking up on xmas morning at 2 1/2 years of age, and seeing my giant teddy bear under the tree. It was as tall as I was. I can also remember the wallpaper on my bedroom wall....seaside scenes...donkey rides, sand castles, umbrellas....also at about 2 1/2.
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