What is your earliest memory? How old were you? What were you doing?
Mine is sitting on my dad’s lap learning to read Little Bear
One of our favorite activities to do as a family was go to the bookstore. We had a purchasing limit of two books each. Do you know how hard it is to narrow down your wishlist to two? I’d tell this to my children who never really understood why it was a big deal until they visited my mother’s children’s bookstore. Now they get it! There’s nothing quite like getting a brand new book, smelling the ink, feeling the crisp pages, wondering what adventures you will go on.
On family road trips we packed books, books, and more books to keep us occupied. Even when we traveled at night we’d hold up our books so the headlights of the vehicles behind us would shine on our pages. Hmm…maybe that’s a contributing factor to all of us needing to wear glasses or contacts?
It was my second grade teacher, Mrs. Rinaldi at Blue Lakes Elementary in Miami, who mentioned to my mother that I should get my eyes checked. I sat on the last row and couldn’t see the chalkboard clearly. My poor mother felt terrible when the optometrist confirmed I needed glasses. Badly. I was so near sighted everything past five feet was fuzzy. Still is, so contacts and glasses have been part of my life since I was six.
I was such a tomboy I had to have those eyeglass holders attached at all times so they wouldn’t fall off. My lenses were so thick though I don’t think dropping them thirty feet would have cracked them.
Too bad my body isn’t as tough. In 1st grade I was trying to show off to the ‘big’ fifth graders after school by doing the *dead man’s fall on a bar. I could do it, did it several times, but had to do it once more just because. Pride cometh before the fall. I spun too far and fell backwards to the ground (only five feet), catching myself with my hands behind me, spraining one wrist and cracking the other, not breaking it but cracking it. Of course, I was late leaving to go home from school. So late the crossing guard was gone. I was already crying, cradling my wrist not knowing what to do. While standing at the crosswalk I heard my name being called from a passing car. My parents pulled into the school parking lot worried sick that something had happened to me. After explaining through my tears what had occurred they did what all good parents do. Took me to DQ to get a 25 cent ice cream cone. 😀
Thankfully, that is the only bone I’ve ever been close to breaking.
* The dead man’s fall is accomplished by sitting on the bar and without using your hands swinging yourself backwards all the way around the bar until you are back in a sitting position on top of the bar.
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You sound like you see as well as I do! And I’ve totally read by the car behind’s headlights. Used to do that on the way home from the library All.The.Time. Until I got old enough to go on my bike, anyway. Never did get good at reading while riding my bike.
I’d have to say that my first memory is more of an impression: my maternal Grandma died of cancer when I was about 3. I have some vague memories of her in her bed. Though I still recognize her voice: I was digging around one day in the very back of the drawer my folks used to keep their cassette tapes in, looking for a blank one, and instead found a talk tape my grandparents had sent home from their mission, just before they found out she had cancer. It started with them calling my name, which was just eerie! Cool, but just odd. I hadn’t heard her voice since I was three, and my grandpa joined her when I was in 4th grade, and I was in high school when I found the tape, but there they were, still there on the tape. I’ll have to ask Mom if she knows whatever happened to that tape.
Oh how kindred we are. I snuck a flashlight to bed with me and would read under my blanket, hoping and praying my mother would not find out I was reading instead of sleeping. I’m often reading a book, listening to a book, writing a book, or just searching for new books. Because 260+ books in my house on my TBR pile and many more on my wish list just are not enough. I need more.
OK, so it might be a problem, especially since I now own an e-reader loaded up with 700 books so that i can walk around with a veritable library in my purse.
Oh and I’m half blind as well. 😉 I feel for you there. I’ve worn glasses my entire life. I had surgery on my eyes as an infant. Glasses are a pain.
Great post! I cannot even think of my first memory! I have lots of flashes of memory, but nothing that stands out right now… I need to ponder that one!
Oh, I am so happy that lots of these Montse’s life posts are coming up!!!
I love your writing.
my first memory is from when I was three. It was the day that my grandfather died. It was really late and my parents dropped my brother and I off to be watched by an older cousin (12) while they spent the night at the hospital with him. Now I can’t believe that they left us to be watched all night by my 12 year old cousin. Times have changed.
I have the same problem with reading. I still take a light to bed so I can read after my husband goes to sleep and I hope and pray that he stays asleep.
My daughter now does the same thing too.
Also, I love, love the Purple Cow. I go as often as I can. In fact I think I will go today.
I refused to wear glasses for as long as I could. I didn’t realize how bad it was until I finally did get glasses. I got sick when I wore my glasses home. There was so much visually to take in the texture of the leaves of the trees and the depth perception between myself and the sidewalk. When I wore them to school and had an assembly I could actually see my brother’s face in the Senior section across the way. I had always memorized his outfit for the day to find him without realizing I was doing it. I was so blind!
I just posted some early memories over here….http://emilysworldofthoughts.blogspot.com/2010/10/diapers-and-spaghetti.html
I have always read a lot. Voraciously. I also have to wear contacts because I can’t see past a couple feet without them. I remember the super thick lenses I had precontacts, too.
I was always a chicken on the playground bar, though. I wouldn’t even hang upside down without using my hands.