Early Memories

One thing that really bothers me is when I tell people about my earliest memories, and they tell me that I couldn't possibly remember that far back. It infuriates me! Everybody says that I only think I remember things, because I've heard people talking about these certain events. I don't buy it, though. I really really remember this stuff!

Scientists say that kids first memories come at an average age of three years old. The key word here is "average." To have an average, you need some numbers above and some below to make the average. In my case, I believe I come in on the lower end of this curve. Then childhood amnesia sets in. As kids develop cognitively, they tend to forget much of what happened between the ages of 3 and 7 years. Some memories persist, but most are lost.

The very first thing I can remember in my life is climbing on a sawhorse that used to be behind our house. I think it was a sawhorse, anyway. It was shaped like a walker. I'll post a picture here if I ever find one. Anyhow, it sat under the trees that used to line our backyard. I can distinctly remember climbing on it, in front of all the trees. And I can't imagine why anyone would have talked about that with me. A few years ago I was telling my parents about this memory and they both said, "Oh yeah. We did have that back there. I don't know why we had it, but we did." This memory has to have been from the summer or fall after I turned 2 years old in April. That winter, in 1982-1983, there was a huge ice storm that brought down all of the trees behind our house. I also remember a little of the aftermath from the storm. I remember looking back behind our house, seeing several of my father's friends cutting up the trees with chainsaws. And I remember asking my mother what Lanny was wearing over his ears. He had on ear protectors, which I'd never seen before. And I remember my mother telling me that he wore them because the chainsaw was so loud that it hurt his ears. Again, I don't know why anyone would have told me about this conversation.

Another early memory I have is of sitting on a stool in the living room of my great-grandparents' house and seeing my great-grandmother(GGM), Frances, come into the room with a smile that stretched from ear-to-ear. She died shortly before my third birthday, so I must have been two years old when this happened. There is another memory to go along with this. After she died, I must have gone to their house and, not seeing her there, wondered where my GGM was. At the age of three, death and mortality are difficult to understand. Months later, perhaps, I remember meeting my GGM, Alma, from the other side of the family. When I was introduced to her, having only known one GGM in my life, my reply was "Oh! So this is where great-grandma has been staying all this time!" When I told my mother about this as a teenager, she said she'd forgotten about it happening.

One other fun memory-and I'm not even sure how old I was, but probably 3 or 4-is of riding on the back of my mom's bike, in those big old plastic kids' seats. I would get bored staring at the back of my mom's head, so I always wanted to lean to the side to look ahead at what was coming up. This would usually throw us off balance and scare my mom half-to-death. :)

One last memory, which I find bizarre to have held onto all these years, happened during the summer when I was probably 3 or 4. I can remember being outside playing and becoming thirsty. I went up the stairs and through the outside door to the back porch, then into the kitchen where I found my mother. I asked for a drink and she poured some kool-aid into a cup. I was chewing gum, so I asked if I could keep it in my mouth while I drank. My mother told me it would be okay if I was extra careful, so I was and I drank the whole thing without swallowing the gum. I was so proud of myself!

So, for anyone who might happen to read this, let me know what you think about memories. Do you have any from your early childhood?