I'm not sure which one of these memories happened before the other, but I know they were both pretty early in my life. The first one I think of is at my fourth birthday party, in our new house in the country. I remember it because I wore a giant, poofy dress and my grandma gave me my first Walkman and cassette tape. It was called "21 Really Cool Songs For Kids" and I listened to it through those black fuzzy headphones for days and and days. It was 1998. I don't really remember anything else about it.
The second memory I can clearly remember is one where I am sitting on the creaky, hardwood floor in my grandma's living room, playing a block puzzle with her, trying to make out an image of Winnie the Pooh and Piglet. I think I must've been older here, because I remember talking to her about Roosevelt, and said to me, "Your Pop went to Roosevelt. Did you know that?" And somehow it was more comforting to me as a young child to know that my grandpa had gone to the elementary school where I'd soon be going, because I was too young to realize that a) he went there fifty years earlier and b) elementary school isn't scary.
I am not surprised in the least that both of these two early memories involve my Nana Pat. She died when I was 11, but the pages of those first 11 years of my life are scribbled overwhelmingly with her name.
No comments:
Post a Comment