Day 14: Memories

Just truckin' along my 30-day Challenge...

Day 14 -  Your earliest memory.

Can I consult older sister Cathy on this one?  She remembers everything.  Yes, yes...I know that it's MY earliest memory, but she can probably supply that, as well.  She's that good.  ;)

If I were Cathy, I would remember this:

Yes, it's my Baptism and yes...I have total crazy eyes going on. 

Most of my real memories (in other words not the ones planted by others) come from around this time:

I'm guessing 7ish?  My hair wasn't quite the wild mop top it is today, but you can see hints of its future unruly self.

Anyway, I remember sporadic things here and there...I remember there being some giant rock at the end of our street when we lived in Chicago and we weren't allowed to go past this foreboding boulder.  Years later when we revisited our old neighborhood, that rock was still there and made us laugh because it was but a mere stone - nothing to make you even give it a second glance, but it seemed so daunting back in the day.

I mentioned despising Winnie the Pooh in my 30 Facts post.  I even remember the reason.  I was hiding in my room scared of some creepy dude hanging out at the park.  My sister had told me rumors/gossip about him.  I don't even know if he ever really existed.  My dad (who was outside doing the lawn) knew I was "sad", so he tapped on my window to get my attention.  When I looked up, he was replaced with a giant Winnie the Pooh stuffed animal that he was dangling in the window to make me smile.  It made me scream.

I remember all of our Halloweens because it was always such a big deal in my family.  The house would be decorated, our pumpkins would be carved, and we would all get dressed up (in homemade costumes courtesy of my mom).  My dad would take us out on the town for our trick-or-treating and he would even bring us back mid-evening to dump our goods for a refill.  Wasn't I just the cutest little bunny ever?

I remember moving from Chicago to Denver when I was 8 and then moving again to Houston when I was 10.  I remember being a Brownie and then a Girl Scout.  I remember attempting to play the clarinet and failing miserably.  I remember always getting in trouble because I had total Middle Child Syndrome.

I remember enough to know I had a happy childhood and that I was loved.  Some details may be fuzzy here and there, but hey...that's why I have Cathy.