Once upon a memory ...

Posted elsewhere, originally, on Dec 10, 2014 10:20 pm


I was reading McManiac's latest blogpost - He has cottoned on to kathynj~'s blog about remembering her childhood phone numer. McManiac thought after we all played "4 things", perhaps we could all play "childhood memories".

                                               

Here are some o' mine:

1. My phone # for my house (until just before I turned 11) was 733-932.

2. I remember standing in the front of my first house (age 6) wearing my newsprint dress; little sack of marbles in my left hand and my new (2-cm-in-diameter) GONG in my right hand. I remember thinking: Suck-ers!!!! (had just won it off of some boys )

3. I remember coughing my lungs right out of my chest - I was 8 and my cousin had just told my two younger cousins and I to not ever smoke. As soon as he turned the corner the older of the 2 young'ens took out 3 cigarettes. I did not smoke again until after high school. (this after telling my sis that I would NEVER-EVER smoke, yuuu-eggghhhh! )

4. I remember standing in line, at the post office, with my late Dad. It was shortly after the 'Whites-only'signs came down. A white man - he must have been about my Dad's age - was looking at me strangely. I looked right back at him - square in the eye - I smiled at him and maintained my position. When I got back to my Dad all he said was: "Good girl ..."

5. I remember my Dad taking my sisters and I to the Boswell Wilkie Circus for the first time. I don't remember exactly which animals I saw but I do remember a whole host of hellishly colourful shadows and vertically challenged people !

6. I remember a day when I went to Grootte Schuur hospital with my folks to visit a friend who had just birthed. I think I was the last one to close the car doors. I forgot to remove my left hand from the doorway as my right hand banged the door shut. I was taken straight through to the ER and my folks missed the maternity ward visiting hour.

7. My first memory of camping at my family's favourite spot - I was nearly 6 and sitting on a 'neighbour's' lounge chair a good couple of 'doors'down from where we were - cold drink in one hand; ice sucker in the other and a wee plate of crisps on my lap. Next thing I know my Mum and Dad appear before me - Mum with hands raking through her hair - quite beside herself. Apparently I had been 'gone' for over 2 hours - I didn't understand what the heck the big deal was.

8. I remember my first sport event: the Cap-and-Apron-race. The starter gun was fired; I ran for about 20 meters to where the cap and apron was placed; Picked up the apron at the end of the right tie; swung the rest of the apron round my back and caught the left end; brought the two ends together in front of me; tied the two ends; turned the apron right-side-front; picked up the cap and tied it- then I sprinted toward the finish line. When I turned around to see where the rest of my fwends were, they were just leaving the cap-and-apron line.

9. I remember my first junior school crush. I was in grade 6 - he was 2nd smartest in the class (after me ) and he was soooooo cute! In the final quarter's exam I let things slide - I wanted him to like me. He ended tops - and he started really talking to me. I stopped liking him and at the end of grade 7 I left him with dust in his eyes!

10. I remember my Dad being quite angry (I think I may have been about 7yo)- He was saying that R5.00 (less than 70 US cents, at the time) was taken from his nightstand. I knew it wasn't me and figured it must have been one of my 2 older sisters. I also knew that IF he thought it was one of them then their punishment would be a whole lot more severe than if it were me. I said it was me.

Geeze ... I had just about forgotten quite a few of these memories. Thanks for giving them back, Mac


Ya all got any good old memories?



.Tri