Cee and I thought we’d share our answers to the Memoir section with you, just to get the ball rolling. I’m up first. Here I am at about 18 months. Wasn’t I adorable?
Here is a link to this week’s Week 1 – Reigniting a sense of wonder post.
AGES: 0 – 6
Where did you live? In northwestern Pennsylvania, in the same little town until I was a senior in high school.
Who took care of you? My parents, grandfather
Did you have any pets? Grandpa had a Scottie named Snookie.
What is your earliest memory? Walking through the woods to school and touching the larch tree branches because they were so soft. I loved picking tea berries and beech nuts and eating them.
What was your favorite book? I read so many but I don’t think I had a favorite. I learned to read almost before I could walk. I don’t remember learning to read. It was always just a part of me.
What was your favorite toy? I don’t remember. American Bricks, maybe. I liked to make houses.
Describe a smell you remember from this stage of your life. Cinnamon toast and my dad’s Old Spice after shave.
What was your favorite food? I don’t remember. I know we always ate a lot of sauerkraut on New Years and my mother made a special danish pastry for Christmas. My Grandmother liked to make an apple filled coffee cake that was super good. I don’t know if I had a favorite food, though.
Describe a sound from this period of your life (a voice, a song, a train whistle, a dog’s bark, etc. . . .) The choir at church. The sound floated down from the choir loft and was magical.
Describe a location where you remember spending time. My grandfather’s house and the woods around it. He felled the trees and built his own log house that was anchored on a big boulder. It was part of the root cellar and really kept things cold.
What other memories occur to you from this period? Did you discover anything in your Memoir that you’d like to explore in an Artist Date?
I didn’t really get a lot of detail or memories from this early in life. I did get sick with polio, so lot of what I remember centered around physical therapy at the local hospital. Although I must admit to a hankering for some cinnamon toast.
How is your memoir coming along? Have you started it yet?
Too funny! Sauerkraut was my choice too for food.
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You and Chris are strange people … 😀 😀 I can’t stand sauerkraut.
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Does she like liver and onions too???
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I’ve never seen her eat liver and onions. I know I did as a kid. 😀
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My mother always put caraway seeds in it and I hated them. Still do. You can’t chew them and they get stuck in your teeth. Other than that, I love sauerkraut, especially when it’s organic and raw. I’ve turned into a sauerkraut gourmet. 🙂
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I started my memoir last night but realized that some of my memories may come from seeing photographs rather than from my personal memory.
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Honestly, the same thing happened with me. I can remember photos of things, but the more I thought about those pictures, the more little things started filling in around them. I didn’t remember more about the photos, but I remembered other things.
Write about the photos, if that’s all you have. You’re still going back and checking into things that caught your attention all those years ago. If you still get nothing, that’s okay, too. Just leave this week blank. We’ll do another age range next week.
Does anyone else have a similar experience?
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Well, I actually ended up really remembering a lot and a lot of detail and was able to answer all of the questions. So that’s good!
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I’ve done the exercise of earliest memory too. I have a lot of “stories or memories”, but I’ve seen it in photos or my family would talk about different things. So I went with a memory I knew my parents and sister wasn’t around. It was an authentic memory, but probably not my earliest. 😀
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I have one early authentic memory, but it is very vague. I went with it.
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Yes, I think most of my stories are coming from either photos or the stories my older siblings have shared in the past. But it’s a start! Even reading your memoir has jolted a few memories…I love cinnamon toast and I think (someone) must have made me some while I was little. I haven’t had any for years – only because it’s best with tons of butter and sugar and a little bit of cinnamon. Right? :o)
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Absolutely right, at least in the old days. 🙂 Now we can maybe back off on the butter and sugar a little bit. LOL
That might be an artist date for you. It might be hard to find cinnamon toast on a restaurant menu, but maybe mix up a little cinnamon sugar and put it in a little container and take it to a restaurant with you. Order buttered toast, then add your own cinnamon. Eat it while keeping a notebook close by and record some ideas or memories that come to you. Take a picture with your phone. Ask all your friends, co-workers and siblings what they remember about cinnamon toast. Have fun with it.
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Like so many others in this group and comments above my memories are sparse at best (with a little trauma thrown in) and it also occurred to me that it was the photos that sparked the thoughts. Was it really a memory? Or more what I have always thought about the picture? Hope that makes any sense lol…I thought I’d share my answers…I want to be accountable and transparent.
AGES: 0 – 4
Where did you live? Houston, Texas – by the way, I’ve never lived more than 20 miles from my birth epicenter
Who took care of you? My parents, grandfather
Did you have any pets? Can’t remember – doubt it.
What is your earliest memory? Parents fighting – terrible alcohol-fueled fights. I also think this is the period they divorced.
What was your favorite book? No idea.
What was your favorite toy? No idea.
Describe a smell you remember from this stage of your life. None, nada, frustrating.
What was your favorite food? No idea.
Describe a sound from this period of your life (a voice, a song, a train whistle, a dog’s bark, etc. . . .) Screaming, fighting, discord.
Describe a location where you remember spending time. I was in bed during the fights…probably awoken by the raised voices. Heartrate up in an alert state.
What other memories occur to you from this period? I don’t think it was a particularly happy early childhood – certainly not secure. My mom was a young mom at 19 and far away from her parents (her choice) – isolation, a drunk husband, trapped. Surely a child can discern that unhappiness?
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Thanks so much Donna for sharing your homework with us. My 0-6 was fairly nice. My parents starting their fighting and screaming when I was about 8. So in some ways I can really relate to you. If I only had to go from 0-4, I doubt if I would have had memories, favorite food. It’s just hard to know a lot at that time. Again wonderful you decided to share.
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Thanks Cee 💙💙
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