The Strawberry Girl
by Joshua Reyholds
from Wikipaintings.org
I really have no idea why anyone would want to read this post, (I've had this post on the back burner for about a month and each time I went to publish it, I decided not to. Maybe I should have stuck with that initial intuition) but it came about like this:
I was reaching into the distant fog of my early childhood one day, and one memory in particular kept resurfacing. So, just for fun, I decided to write a post about ten of my earliest memories. I would love it if you all would share your earliest memories too, in the comments section of this post. Besides, then I wouldn't feel quite so narcissistic, or at least not conspicuously so.
Ten of my Earliest Memories
Ages 2-6
or something like that
Ages 2-6
or something like that
1. Falling into a rushing river in Idaho and being rescued from certain death by my brother, who is four years older than I. (It could be a lie that my brother told me, of course, but I do remember it, nevertheless.)
2. A steep cliff and hand pump just outside the back door of a house in Idaho. I mean there was just enough room to open the door and get water from the pump. The house was at the bottom of the cliff. The top of the cliff was about 20 or 30 feet above. It belonged to some relative that we visited just that once. (Idaho is a long way from Wisconsin, especially when my parents stopped every 60 miles or so for coffee. Then again, this was just before the Interstate...yeah, a long, long time ago! And no, we weren't traveling by covered wagon.)
3. 'The Strawberry Girl' painting that hung above the Jungers oil burner in our living room. I always wondered why that little girl was going to have a baby, and why my mother thought that was a nice picture. But I never asked her. It seemed to be one of those things you didn't talk about.
4. Distinctly hearing my name called (repeatedly! on a dark and stormy night) when no one but me was in the house. I was about 5 years old. (The others must have been milking cows.) It was my Samuel moment.
5. A late summer afternoon, sitting with my sister and mom in the basement on an old discarded horsehair sleigh cushion, waiting out a tornado. (I said the sleigh cushion was 'discarded.' That means that we did not use horse and sleigh as transportation...just in case you didn't pick up on that in point #2..)
6. Grabbing a man's hand at church, thinking it was my dad, because all the men in the church wore long gray coats and fedora hats, and being very embarrassed (and a little scared) when I looked up and realized I had the wrong guy. I mean, what little girl would want to find herself holding Gunner Jackson's hand? He always seemed so quiet and stern.
(Could be the men at the First Baptist Church)
7. A recurring dream that I could stand on the top step of our long flight of stairs and fly down to the bottom. I only tried it in my dreams, and it worked every time. I was so tempted to try it after I woke up. I'm surprised my older brothers didn't dare me to do it.
8. My wedding day - when I was 5 years old and the groom was about 9, while we stood on a sled in the ditch. His older brother and my older brother looked on as witnesses. Another older brother, about 11, was officiating. It may have been the shortest marriage on record - probably because no one would pull me home on the sled. I quickly realized that I had married a 9 year old jerk.
9. The school boys lined up behind the wood shed of the old country school house (yes, there was such a thing as a wood shed!) and girls standing in line, taking turns kissing them. (Yech!) I was not one of those girls. I was 6 and not yet stupid. I was the designated spy who had to let them know if the teacher was coming.
10. Walking home from school in first or second grade, and as I came up to the top of the hill, seeing a TV antenna on top of our house. My parents had bought our first TV - which somehow broadcast only Westerns.
Have Gun Will Travel
Roy Rogers
Hopalong Cassidy
Gene Autry
The Virginian
Bonanza
Gunsmoke, etc.
***
There! Now it's your turn.
What are some of your earliest memories?
What are some of your earliest memories?
***
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This post may be linked to some of the following: Mop it Up Monday Cure for the Common Monday and Mealtime Monday and Clever Chicks Blog Hop and Mosaic Monday and Barn Charm and The Marketplace and On the Menu Monday and Mix it up Monday and Make it Pretty Monday and What's in the Gunny Sack and Making the World Cuter Mondays and Make the Scene Monday and Something I Whipped Up Monday and Motivate Me Monday and Making Monday Marvelous and Get Your Craft On and You're Gonna Love it Tuesday and Knick of Time Tuesday and Take a Look Tuesday and Tasty Tuesday and Tasty Tuesday and Love Bakes Good Cakes and Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays and Overflowing With Creativity and Mom on TimeOut and Adorned from Above and Cast Party Wednesday and We Did it Wednesday and It's a Party at Creative Princess and Artsy Corner Thursday and The Self-sufficient Home Acre and I'm Lovin' it Thursday and Mandatory Mooch and Foodie Friends Friday and Serenity Saturday and Get Schooled Saturday and Inspiration Friday(ThursNite) and Vintage Inspiration Friday and Photo Friday and A Favorite Thing Saturday and Sunny Simple Sunday and Saturday Nite Special
Oh how I loved your post and so glad you shared.
ReplyDeleteI will just add a few.
1.A navy blue faux fur coat.(I loved)
2.smells of bacon and my grandmothers oil heat wafting up the stairs.
3.the milkman delivering donuts and milk
4.shopping from the sears catalog on my grams kitchen table.
5. tins of buttons thinking my Gram was the richest woman in the world.
6.taking the bus everywhere we went.
7. the most beautiful oranges in Christmas baskets.
8.fried eggs , chocolate ice cream, grits and potato chip sandwiches at 11:00 at night.
Did I mention I had the best Grandmother ever?
Warm Woolie Blessings
Trace
What a great idea to share your first memories and invite us to participate! I have often thought of my own very first one with a smile...my sister and I sitting behind a chair in the living room and rubbing Vick's ointment -from the blue bottle- onto wallpaper that was light grey with a pattern of feathers. I can still smell that nasty stuff. And I don't think we were punished for doing that naughty thing!
ReplyDeleteOh, Judy, this is a great post! I love hearing all of these first memories. They are truly special.. and, it gives us that much more insight to who you are :) Thanks for sharing!!
ReplyDeleteJudy, this post was so much fun to read!! I need to give this some thought, and gather some photos, but promise I will do it in a blog on my page - perhaps this weekend. Thanks for letting us peak into your past with you!
ReplyDeletei loved every word of this. i like hearing things about people it helps to KNOW them, when we have never met. the thing is, i thought at the beginning i can't think of 10 memories. but each one of yours jogged a memory. i will number mine like yours
ReplyDelete1. big rock filled creek, snow melt and waters coming to the top, our house was 4 feet from that crashing water..
2.stayed in a motel in NC on the way to KY from GA...looked out the back window and the cliff wall of red clay was 2 feet from the window. it went straight up out of sight. i got daddy to go out with me and let me walk behind the motel. barely fit.
10. we had to walk home from school up the snow covered mountain and down the other side. my little brother walked with me. i decided to take the long way home so we did not have to climb the mountain, the thing is it was 15 minutes up and over the long way was a 45 minute drive. yes i did get a whipping.
and when I was 12 2 boys turned the ping pong table up on it end and across the corner of the room, the girls were supposed to go back there and get a kiss. that was my first kiss and i still remember his name and the excitement. of course it wasnt much of a kiss
I LOVE this post!! Especially comment about being 6 and not yet stupid, when the other girls were kissing the boys. So funny!!
ReplyDeleteFun post! Love the "puddle" video from yesterday too! You should think about a "linky" party to have fellow bloggers post about their earliest memories! Could be a hoot! I'd really have to stop and think; quite a distance to get back that far:)
ReplyDeleteThis is a fun post. I'm still a young'un but I love reading stories from yesteryear.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun post. I used to do "Memory Monday" posts on my blog. I think I'll start those again - thanks for reminding me. And now for one of my early memories:
ReplyDeleteSitting on a little wood porch of an Oklahoma relative's country store, tearing Kleenex into strips so I could pretend they were bacon. I was three.
I remember when men actually wore formal hats! There was even little clips on the back of church pews to use for hanging hats (or gloves) during service. It's funny, but you never saw anybody going around wearing a ball cap!
ReplyDeleteI remember picking berries out in the back yard, washing them up, and then putting them on my breakfast cereal. YUM! Entertainment was pretty simple - a deck of cards or a jump rope. If I got a present for a birthday or Christmas, it was usually just one thing.
You have started us all thinking about our youngest moments. Great post. I began to wonder if you lived in Idaho which is my home state.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely post! I am glad your "other half" finially won out and you posted it.
ReplyDeleteI think my earliest memory is of waking up when Dad got up for work at 4am and cuddeling with him before he left for the day. Not sure how old I was.....
I also remember watching my Mom sew and begging her to make a dress for my doll. My face was the same heighth as the sewing machine, I had a great veiw! I must have been about 5, as by the time I was 6-7 I knew how to make my own doll clothes.
Thanks for sharing! Memories are always sweet.
I kept switching between laughing and saying, "Awww, that's so cute," while reading this post. I'm glad you went ahead and posted it. Well worth the read! Oh and that first one was scary! Your covered wagon comment was hilarious! The paintings in our house were Blue Boy and Pinky and then there was this one that hung over my parent's bed---I wish I knew what to say to look it up but, apparently, I don't because I can't find it. I remember the ladies having on lovely dresses in pastel colors and being in like an opening in the forest or something. I think some of them had on hats--the dresses looked about 1600s ish or something. Dang it. Now I have to figure this out. Thanks. LOL
ReplyDeleteThat was a great post! I thoroughly enjoyed reading about all those memories.
ReplyDeleteHave a good rest of the week.
I love reading through your memories, that is awesome!! :)
ReplyDeleteI can sort of remember going to the hospital when my nephew Danny was born (I was 3). I can remember the waiting area and not being allowed to go up to the floor he was on.
I also remember getting caught kissing a boy under the slide in kindergarten (I was one of THOSE girls). ;)
Walking down the dirt road by our house and being surrounded on both sides by fields and fields of cotton. Having chicken pox(all over) and being very sick. My Aunt Vera loving me so very much. I love this post and your shared memories. I too have been nostalgic lately. I just had a gold watch repaired that I won when I was six years old and am wearing it so it is calling up my childhood.
ReplyDeleteI loved your post!!
ReplyDeleteGrandmas chicken and dumplings
grandpa slurping it( drove me crazy)
Very interesting post Judy - I love to know about my friends and their history and what they are all about. And your dreams were very interesting. I wonder if we all didn't grab the wrong father's hand - I did that too. sandie
ReplyDeleteI loved this post, Mom! :)
ReplyDeleteHere are mine! I remember:
1. watching Dad milk cows in the barn, and him squirting me with milk (direct from the cow!) as I was walking down the barn aisle.
2. seeing the poor, frozen kittens outside the barn door after a bad freeze. :(
3. singing "I will make you fishers of men" in front of the whole church
4. Aunt Patty and Uncle Brock's wedding, and the scary guys in masks (their friends?)
5. playing in the sandbox, looking all over the place for my Fischer-Price sheep, and discovering that it had been in my left hand all along!
6. getting in BIG trouble because I was hiding in the flower bed and ignoring everyone who was calling for me: As far as I was concerned, I was playing hide-n-seek, and I was winning!
7. that crushed blue velvet bedspread in the house by Reeve
8. riding in the kid's seat in the grocery cart, wearing red tights. I must have been pretty young if I could fit in that seat!
9. Kevy pushing me around the living room in a laundry basket.
10. some little neighbor girl in Hudson teaching me how to do a cartwheel.
This was fun reading your earliest memories! My first memory is having my 3rd birthday in a motel when we were traveling to California. Mom bought a cake at the bakery and I was so disappointed it didn't have frosting. She tells me it had white icing but because it wasn't colored I didn't think it had any. Another thing from that trip, we were staying at my dad's aunt and uncle's place that was right next to the railroad tracks. Every time the train went past the house would shake. I would run to sit on the couch and pretend I was riding the train.
ReplyDeleteWhat a cute post! Loved reading some of your memories! Thanks for popping in to see me.
ReplyDeleteBe a sweetie,
Shelia ;)
I love it! You make me smile. :)
ReplyDeleteHi Judy,
ReplyDeleteI am back. I had to think a minute.
:)
My grandpa is one of my earliest memories. The smell of his Old Spice. And going out in his workshop. My sister and I would look through is Vintage Pinup Girl calendars. (Yes, these gals had clothes on, they just had short dresses or shorts.) They were paintings. I am having trouble explaining but I think you know what I mean. :)
altho i actually don't remember this but have been told it's true...running stark naked around the neighborhood (in front of the school) as a 2yr old and our neighbor catching me and wrapped me up in a towel to take me home!!! was i the 1st 'streaker'??!!!
ReplyDelete* one-eyed-china-mans for breakfast at my gparent's dairy farm in Wisc
*Santa coming down the steps at my g'parent's house only to find out he was a friend of my gpa's!!!
*winning a 3-ft stuffed bunny rabbit from the local grocery store at Easter when i was 3 - it was bigger than i was!
*posing for b/w Christmas pics with my siblings that my dad developed every year in his darkroom in the basement
*living in our basement when our 1st floor was being remodeled
thank you for the memories!!!
^)^ linda
Hi, Judy! What fun!!
ReplyDeleteOkay, here goes...
1.Following a man out of the post office who I thought was my Grandpa, and was not ~ (he was a friend of Grandpa's, though ~ not surprisingly; very small town) ~ they both wore fedoras, too ~ I got all the way out to his car when I realized it wasn't him! I was mortified, and ran back inside, just as Grandpa realized I had gone somewhere!
2. Running in the extremely tall grass down the hill from our house and stepping on a big black snake...
3.Feeding baby pigs with a bottle...
4. Rolling marbles down the un-even floor in my Grandparents old, old house...
5. Lying in my Mom and Dad's bed, seeing "pictures" in the leaves of the huge old oak outside the window...
6.Holding up three fingers to tell someone at a drugstore lunch counter how old I was...
7. Watching my Daddy herd a vicious hog late one night...
8.Watching our dog Polly shake a copperhead...
9. Trying my best to hear Daddy's "silent" dog whistle...I was fascinated with that thing!
10. Pretending that little waterbugs in a jar was my "aquarium"
♥
Hugs,
Anne
This might be my favorite post. :)
ReplyDeleteReally liked this post.
ReplyDeleteWhat a delightful post. I'll have to think about this...maybe steal your idea for a post for my blog too. ;)
ReplyDelete