an avid reader asked me what my earliest childhood memories are, so after spending the morning delving into my brain, this is the result:
my childhood memories are very cloudy. i don't really remember one continuous stream of memories, just clumps.
my earliest ones involve playing in the sandbox with my brother chad behind our little yellow house on government road in kapuskasing. and we also played on the front deck. chad and i would slide through the bars and then back in... or that might have been at my grandmother's house on byng street, but in my memory it was at the yellow house. i also remember dad putting chad and i to bed, sleeping feet to feet at opposite ends and i had my braces on.
i remember cutting my finger on something in the basement of the rodger's house in val-rita (the one we moved into later) and it bled and bled (well, it seemed like it was bleeding a lot, but i couldn't have been more than four years old so it probably just seemed like a lot) and my mother said something about me going to school soon.
and then i remember moving to val-rita. for some reason, i remember my father and someone else knocking down a wall in the old yellow house and pulling a step-stool out from behind it. (i doubt that actually happened--it just seems so bizarre that we'd store a step-stool in the wall or that we'd even have room for one there considering that the house was so small, but that's how i remember it.) and i remember sitting on the tailgate of a pick up truck in grandma's driveway/parking lot and crying because i didn't want to move and mr. larocque telling me that i was gonna be living in a nicer, bigger house and that everything was gonna be ok. or something--i don't really remember what he said, just that he was teasing me or something.
i remember my first day of school. well, actually, i just remember mom getting me a blanket (for nap time) and a back pack and telling me that i was going to school. i started going to school in the afternoons. i remember standing at the end of our driveway in val-rita (where perras road splits
into our driveway) waiting for the bus. i remember being at school, and being surprised that i could speak english. i remember brian; he was a bully and every day he'd pick someone different to be his "friend" and one day i was all happy because he picked me.
i remember pooping my pants in kindergarten ... or was that grade one? and mom and grandma came to get me at school. wow, that still embarrasses me (not that mom and grandma came to get me, but that i pooped my pants.)
so... yeah, those are my earliest memories, i think. i hope they make for some nice funny reading.
my childhood memories are very cloudy. i don't really remember one continuous stream of memories, just clumps.
my earliest ones involve playing in the sandbox with my brother chad behind our little yellow house on government road in kapuskasing. and we also played on the front deck. chad and i would slide through the bars and then back in... or that might have been at my grandmother's house on byng street, but in my memory it was at the yellow house. i also remember dad putting chad and i to bed, sleeping feet to feet at opposite ends and i had my braces on.
i remember cutting my finger on something in the basement of the rodger's house in val-rita (the one we moved into later) and it bled and bled (well, it seemed like it was bleeding a lot, but i couldn't have been more than four years old so it probably just seemed like a lot) and my mother said something about me going to school soon.
and then i remember moving to val-rita. for some reason, i remember my father and someone else knocking down a wall in the old yellow house and pulling a step-stool out from behind it. (i doubt that actually happened--it just seems so bizarre that we'd store a step-stool in the wall or that we'd even have room for one there considering that the house was so small, but that's how i remember it.) and i remember sitting on the tailgate of a pick up truck in grandma's driveway/parking lot and crying because i didn't want to move and mr. larocque telling me that i was gonna be living in a nicer, bigger house and that everything was gonna be ok. or something--i don't really remember what he said, just that he was teasing me or something.
i remember my first day of school. well, actually, i just remember mom getting me a blanket (for nap time) and a back pack and telling me that i was going to school. i started going to school in the afternoons. i remember standing at the end of our driveway in val-rita (where perras road splits
into our driveway) waiting for the bus. i remember being at school, and being surprised that i could speak english. i remember brian; he was a bully and every day he'd pick someone different to be his "friend" and one day i was all happy because he picked me.
i remember pooping my pants in kindergarten ... or was that grade one? and mom and grandma came to get me at school. wow, that still embarrasses me (not that mom and grandma came to get me, but that i pooped my pants.)
so... yeah, those are my earliest memories, i think. i hope they make for some nice funny reading.
Thanks so much for your answer. I enjoy reading this. Was interested in
ReplyDeleteseeing how the color yellow sands out in your mind. The house was not
yellow, but the kitchen cupboards, the kitchen curtains and your bed were
all yellow. Also the shop next door was and is golden yellow. Yes, you
always had a sandbox, in both places and yes, the only yard you had on Gov't
Rd. was the tiny little patio. Yes, you did share a bed with Chad and you
did sleep feet to feet, that's awesome that you remember that, you were just
a little wee fella and the braces too. Three years and under.
Funny, I don't remember the cut finger but I remember the cut on your
forehead, I nearly panicked! Dad and I talked about that move to Val Rita
and we can't remember ever discussing this with you boys. The big day came
and went so fast and Dad was so busy with working at the shop all the time
and I was so busy getting things ready that I don't recall saying much to
you boys... how traumatic it must've been for you to wake up in the little
house and then go to bed in a different house, in a different bed, in a
different town! Poor you.
The pick-up truck would've been Mitch Larocque's, and he's the one that
picked us up (Chad, you and me) to go to Val Rita. Dad was too busy
working. It's good that you should remember that, it was a pretty big deal
when you think about it.
Do you remember the little back pack you had? It was a penguin wasn't it?
You were such a little guy, I had to put you in the bus that first time...
such a sad experience. I don't remember you pooping your pants in
kindergarten, poor you, it must've been such an ambarrassing moment for you!
Yeah, I enjoyed reading your recollections. You were soo cute back then! Nowadays, you're such a handsome feller, little wonder with you being soo cute!
My next question for you is, what is the happiest/saddest moments that you
can remember of your childhood?
I don't remember much about my childhood, only clumps like you... I remember being in the driveway at 80 Byng and my little sister Suzy getting her finger caught in the wagon and she lost her nail... I remember sitting in a musty old classroom with Tante Doe, she was busy so she sat me by a window
on a stool and I just sat there and watched a little gold fish in the fish
bowl... I remember going to Tante Doe's friend with her and her friend had
this huge baby grand piano and she played with her eyes closed and her body swayed and I wondered why she was doing that... but the music was beautiful.
I remember sneaking in the fridge and eating balogna and sneaking in the
cupboard for chocolate chips and coconut flakes. I remember making popcorn with aunt Suzy in the bedroom downstairs and hoping that Grandma and Grandpa wouldn't hear the noise or smell the butter. Hey, they say your extended memory expands with old age, I'm beginning to think that's true, it seems I could go on and on... But I'll stop now, this could get long and boring.
i think one of my earliest memories is of being in the backyard of our blue house on pictou rd, with our german shepherd, sam. he was big and gentle.
ReplyDeletethe back step was tall, and we had to go down steps to get to the driveway - sam was tied to the railing, i think? - and i remember having a dream that my oldest sister jen was tied to sam's rope as bait for a huge (cartoon) lion that was coming down the road. the lion was as tall as the telephone poles. i was a weird dreamer. am.
i remember waking up in the mornings and usually not being able to open my eyes because they were stuck closed - i must've had eye infections?
i remember lying on mom and dad's waterbed while dad told me the story of goldilocks and the three bears. it must have been when dad got home from work, because i remember the smell of the garage. and also sleeping in that bed with lorianne b. when we both had measles - and i remember the tight feeling of dried up calamine lotion spots.
i remember when laura went out onto the road and sam and robbie were freaking out. the cars stopped.
i remember robbie in his jollyjumper.
i remember sleeping in the basement with the tree on christmas eve and we were noisy and dad got mad. i remember him using the phrase "blowing my stack" and i pictured the bald part of his head flying off and a huge burst of boiling hot water shooting straight up into the air out of his head.
i remember mom's housecoat was so soft against my cheek.
i remember being so sad when dad hunted a deer and refusing to go see it ... i think sniech and i sat on the stairs and cried.
i remember grampie ... but this could go on forever :). fun blog, patrick!!!
Patrick, this is like a really short version of Virginia Woolf's "The Waves"
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