I'm pretty sure I've mentioned before that I have a lot of health problems. While my kids were out for Spring Break, Zombie Mom stayed in bed feeling like zombie hunters had given her head a good bashing. Ugh. I also got news that Gary the gallbladder will have to be removed. I wish Gary luck in his future endeavors as long as they don't take place in me.
I was perusing the list, trying to figure out just want I want to talk about and decided to take a trip down memory lane.
Describe 3 significant memories from your childhood.
1. My sister left home when I was in 3rd grade. I remember my mom following her in the car, telling her to come home, but my sister wouldn't. She had this huge, puffy, hot pink bag filled with all her stuff. My mom gave up, went home and locked herself in her room. We were told not to tell anybody what was going on. We were told we no longer had a sister. My grades dropped. I stopped doing my homework. I was one of he last kids to learn my multiplication facts and missed recesses to study them. I also had to walk around school with a progress report pinned to my shirt so I wouldn't forget to take it home to get signed. I withdrew into myself. My mom yelled at lots of people. She cried a lot. My brother and I took over the chores around the house. My sister leaving shaped everything from then on out. If I got in trouble, I was compared to her or, worse, called by her name. I didn't blame my sister for leaving. I didn't blame my mom for my sister leaving. I missed and loved my sister and wanted to see her badly. But, still, I didn't want to be compared to her or called her name because I'm me, not her. Plain and simple. I know my mother was trying to shame me, but it really made me feel like my mother would never really see me because she was always thinking about my sister. I got depressed and was told I had no reason to be unhappy. I was told I was just trying to get attention. It was a dark time and I wasn't supposed to tell anybody.
2. I had a best friend named Brad. He meant the world to me and we were always planning to runaway and live off the land. There was a giant field a couple of blocks from our houses and we used to go out there whenever we could, though we weren't allowed to do so. There was a little pond out there where you could catch perch and piles of dumped rocks, gravel and dirt to climb and jump across. The grass was up to our waists and grasshoppers sprung up in all directions. We loved the red-winged blackbirds. Brad had a border collie and we used to chase rabbits with the border collie. We never caught one, but it was fun. I have lots of memories about that place, but one really sticks out in my mind.
It was Saturday morning and still dark outside. Brad and I sneaked out while everyone was still asleep. We had tied long scraps of cloth around our necks as capes. When we got to the field, we were cold and the sun still wasn't up. We pressed up against one of the piles of rocks to shield ourselves from the wind. Then we untied our capes, combined them and hid under them to stay warm, huddled close together. Completely innocent. Our teeth were chattering and we didn't talk, just waited to get warm. We noticed that it started to get lighter, so we peeked out from under the cloths. We were facing into the sun and it was just coming over the horizon, orange, big and bright. The sky was a swirl of pinks, yellows, oranges, purples and blues. It was the very first sunset I had ever watched from beginning to end. Neither of us moved until the sun had completely lifted off from the horizon. I treasure that memory. It makes me smile every time.
3. My mother was the youngest of ten kids, so we had lots of aunts, uncles, cousins and second cousins. I loved visiting all of them, but my favorite place to go was to my Uncle Pope's house. He lived in the country and had a small farm. I always felt I belonged more out there than anywhere else. I hung out with the cows and played with their thick ears. I explored the pastures with Stockyard, my uncle's Australian Cattle Dog. I chased chickens and kept the geese from biting me by carrying a stick with me. I knew every inch of that land and every hole in the chicken coop. It excited me to no end to be asked to put hay out for the cows or feed the chickens.
I loved the inside of the house too. It was small and the floors creaked and everything was old. They had a big table that smelled like maple syrup. Uncle Pope, Aunt Ruby and I were always the first ones up in the morning. I would sit at the table with Uncle Pope while Aunt Ruby made breakfast. We talked about all kinds of things. He showed me the Farmer's Almanac. He'd ask my opinion on what crops he should grow. He taught me what head of cattle meant and showed me how to incubate chicken eggs. He said that he and I needed a hound so we could listen to it bay at night. He was a man that understood me and I loved him a lot. He made me feel like a bit of that place was mine too.
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