Earliest memories..?

by Eric

My daughter has an exceptional memory of her past. She can recall events from as early as two years old that just astound me with their accuracy. She most certainly didn’t receive that gift from me.

My earliest memories are sort of a mosaic of living in Wausau. I remember, in no particular order (I couldn’t even guess at one):

  • Vomiting in kindergarten (back then there was no K3 or K4. It was just kindergarten that you started when you were 5 years old). I was taken to the nurses office. That cot which I was put in to rest was in a cage (literally) over the gym that housed not only nurses supplies, but also various PhyEd equipment.
  • Watching TV in the basement. It was black and white, not because I’m that old, but because we were poor. Various things I remember watching in the basement were Land of the Lost (which was sporadic because I didn’t understand TV time slots); The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe animated movie; Rikki Tikki Tavi animated movie; and Dot the Kangaroo (which only just now writing this do I actually now know it is Dot AND the Kangaroo 🤯).
  • Playing in our yard. Particularly pretending that the elm tree was the entrance to my super hero secret base.
  • My always being tired when he came home.
  • Waking up in the middle of the night thirsty, grabbing a random glass on the edge of the counter that had liquid in it, and drinking from it. I wish I could say this was the last time I ever drank from a cup without knowing what was in it. Though this still wins hands down as the worst tasting time I ever did. My guess is booze of some sort.

If I come across others over the next 350+ days I’ll certainly add to this. I’ve never actually collected these sorts of memories before. In the meantime, of all of these the elm tree is the most significant, connecting dots forward throughout much of my life. More on that at another time.

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