My earliest memory is our car's dashboard as my parents rushed me to the hospital. I must have been laying in my mom's lap because I remember what the glove box and dashboard looked like. Don't ask what kind of car we had or its color - I don't remember. If I remember correctly, I was 2 years old and had swallowed a penny. There must have been some threat to my health, maybe I wasn't breathing. I just remember the glove box and dashboard and knowing I was going to see a doctor because something was wrong.
My second earliest memory is the first time I lied (to my knowledge). I was four-ish and I was helping my brother, J., get out of his crib. He, C., and I shared a room and J.'s crying was disturbing my sleep. Mom and Dad were out for the evening and our mean babysitter had put us to bed early. I don't remember anything else about the babysitter, just that she was "mean" and that she came in the room while I was helping J. out of the crib. She (angrily, I'm sure) asked what I was doing. Panicked, I stuttered that I was putting J. back in the crib. Now I'm not sure she believed me, but at the time I "learned" that adults were gullible.
I had my first boyfriend in first grade. His name was Jose and I really liked him and he really liked me (who wouldn't - I was adorable in first grade!). One day our class watched The Dark Crystal and I got scared. Jose put his arm around my shoulders to comfort me. I remember putting my head on his shoulder and thinking that I was going to marry him someday. He moved away from Vernal at some point, either during that year or just after. I was sad, of course. Then he moved back in fourth grade and I was so excited!! Unfortunately we had grown up and apart. I thought he was a jerk. Sigh. I wonder where Jose is now.
My first kiss came much, much, much later. This guy I had liked for years finally clued in and we started dating. One night we had gone on a double date with my friend and his cousin who were also dating. After the evening's events we parked in front of my house. We were in the front seat and our friends were in the back. Turning off the car, K put his arm around me and pulled me close and we cuddled for awhile. My eyes must have been closed because I didn't see him coming in for the kiss. I don't even really remember what the kiss felt like. I just remember something happening and when it was over I thought, I think he just kissed me! I was disappointed that I hadn't paid better attention. Fortunately, he followed up that kiss with another when he walked me to my door.
The first time I rode in an airplane was when I left for Montreal to serve my mission. I had seen so many people get to go down the walkway to board and I had always been jealous - they were getting to go somewhere. When my turn finally came, I was so excited that I didn't even feel very sad to be saying goodbye to my family. I was finally going somewhere!! First we (my fellow missionaries and I) flew to Chicago, had a short layover, then flew into Montreal. The other missionaries were all clumped together at the front of the economy section, while I sat near the rear. On the way to Chicago I sat with a nice man from Salt Lake who was going to Chicago on business. He wasn't LDS, but he knew a lot about our religion. He was very friendly. When we got to Chicago the other missionaries expressed their jealousy that I had been able to talk about the church practically the whole flight to a nonmember. It got better. On the flight to Montreal I sat next to a lovely, old gentleman from Montreal who was flying home. He introduced me to the joys of ginger ale. He wasn't LDS, either. I had a great conversation with him and as we deboarded from the plane I was able to give him a Book of Mormon (he asked for one!!!). It was the best possible first airplane ride one could ever hope for.
9 comments:
I am loving the part where you wish that you had paid better attention. That's great.
I was a little thrown off by the part where you talked about your double date. It kind of sounded like your friend was dating his cousin. But I assume that was not the case but hey what do I know?
After reading your new post last night, I layed awake trying to think of my first memories. Very interesting excercise - maybe I'll write down some of them someday. Suffice it to say, the earliest ones were in Newfoundland. I don't remember anything from Alabama or Oklahoma. Hmmmm....
I always think of something else after posting my comments. I think that car was a red station wagon. Ask your mom. I laughed about you "putting J. into the crib". How funny. I'll bet it was fun growing up in your family - Such characters!
Yes, my friend was dating his cousin. In fact, she had three consecutive boyfriends who were either related to or good friends with my boyfriend. We went on a lot of double dates with her and whoever she was dating at the time.
Julie, I think Cassie thought it sounded like your friend was dating their own cousin, not your boyfriend's cousin.
These are great memories. I have a few random memories from when I was really young. I think it's funny that my perspective of the world, or more my perspective of how I fit into the world almost seems the same from when I was young to now.
P.S. I wrote an answer comment to your question comment on my blog.
that was a really fun blog to read! I must admit, I used to be jealous that you dated K....I always thought he was one of the coolest guys I knew. Sigh. Thats okay, Joseph fits me much better!
I think we should all have blogs about our earliest memories, that would be fun. One of my earliest was watching Ripleys Believe it or Not in an apartment we lived in when I was three.
Yes Alyson, that is what I meant. I'm glad the joke wasn't lost on everyone. I think my earliest memories are of my babysitter's house. Maybe I'll do a post about this.
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