My father is putting together an “ancestor book” and has asked everyone in the family to write a little bit about themselves and their life to date. So of course as the only blogger in the family, I am also the LAST to actually write anything.
Isn’t that always the way?
Actually I find this very difficult since “brief overview” has never been my thing. Four pages in, I realized that I hadn’t even made it to Kindergarten!
I have been working on it though, and thought it might be fun (i.e. it might provide me with some much needed blog content) if I posted installments of it here.
So here is an intro of sorts:
My earliest memory is a family picture taken when I was about nine months old. Or at least, I had a memory – then saw a picture and made the connection. In my memory, I was in a good place (my mother’s lap). Then I was moved somewhere else (a grandfather’s lap), and that was no good. I cried. There was a flash.
My mother confirmed the sequence of events when I asked. So I know this must be true. And I like the idea of knowing what it felt like to be a baby. Pre-verbal memories are like dreams – everything comes in sensory flashes…no words or perception of what anyone else could be thinking. Just undiluted personal experience.
I think about this memory sometimes and marvel over the rare opportunity it offers. I actually have some insight into what goes on in the minds of babies! Apparently, babies prefer to be with their mothers. I know this first hand!
Okay – so maybe my pre-verbal memory doesn’t really provide any useful information… But it’s pretty cool, right?
I remember a lot from my childhood (which makes the exercise of writing a personal history less than 3,000 pages long a bit daunting…) But this is most likely because I was always an observer.
You know those fearless kids who hurtle into life, head first? Yeah – that wasn’t me. I was more of a watch-consider-decide that doesn’t look like a good idea kind of girl. One drawback to this attitude is that I often let my cautious nature get in the way of having fun. But on the upside, I grew up with astonishingly few scars.
Since a blow by blow of the last 40 years I’ve been on earth doesn’t seem possible, I’ll just try to cover the interesting stuff.
Cliffhanger right?! Don’t worry – I’ll be back in a couple of days with more!
In the meantime – here is a picture of balloons that were released in honor of Jack Donaldson’s birthday today. It was quite a site – all of those balloons. I brought Oliver and Eleanor with me (George was doing something with Chris), and while Eleanor was happy enough to send her balloon off into the great beyond, Oliver found the whole thing incredibly disturbing. He cried and kept saying “I want them down – I want them back down!” And I can’t say that I blame him. As lovely as the floating balloons were. I didn’t like seeing them disappear either. It was a fitting sentiment: No matter how beautiful the ascent, I wish they could have stayed…
Your memory is just incredible Kate! So neat. You won’t be surprised that I was not a ‘wait and see’ type kid. And I have the scars to prove it – ha!
The balloons. OMG. I couldn’t stop crying last night as all the pictures flooded facebook…
I can’t believe you have that memory! It’s astounding. You truly are an observer. Love that you’re doing this…keep us ‘posted’. Ha! I’m hilarious.
Oh my gosh…those balloons. Jack. Thank you for putting this up. I wish I could have been there.
It is very cool to have that early memory! And as you say, to understand what it felt like to be a baby is a rare thing. My earliest memory was standing up in my crib, waiting for my mother to come into my room (must have been about 2 years old). It’s also amazing when you realize how few memories of those early days our kids are going to have when they’re older!
Also, I think it’s really cool that your family is each writing a piece of their personal history down for an ancestor book. I love that idea and hope to one day persuade everyone in my family to do something like it.