One of your most treasured childhood memories?

[WillParkinson]

When we used to go 'up-north' (Babcock WI) there was a lady who lived in the next yard to us. We used to call her Grandma Tiffany, even though she wasn't really related to us. She used to have a beautiful rosebush out in front of her home that would attract all manners of strange bugs (well, they were strange when I was 5).

One day, a male relative of hers came to visit. He was quite young, probably in his late teens or early twenties. And he was exceptionally cute. He was my first crush.

While I was visiting with her he asked me if I wanted to go for ice cream. I, naturally, said yes. He picked me up, put me on his shoulders and carried me to the restaurant in town (which is quite a trek) and bought me a dish of ice cream and then carried me back. The field opposite our properties had a shetland pony on it. I used to love to look at it. The boy took me over to where the girl who was caring for it was and asked her if I could have a ride on it.

I got scared and he carried me home.

Yeah, it's one of my sweetest memories.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. What a beautiful memory, my dear WillParkinson...

One of mine:

I had a beloved Panda Bear when I was little. One day I took it somewhere, and lost it. I was really sad. But Christmas was coming, and my parents always had us write a list of what we wanted. So of course, a Panda Bear went onto my list.

Christmas morning found me standing, joyfully looking under the tree......at my new Panda Bear. I still remember how happy I felt.

I still have that bear...

See?

[HopeHoops]

2. My grandfather pulling up in his brand new '68 Galaxie fastback and me saying "I want that car."

I've owned it since '83.

[Art_from_Ark]

3. Going to my grandparents' house

Last edited Tue Jul 17, 2012, 10:16 AM - Edit history (1)

It was such a special place, in so many ways

[Hula Popper]

4. My dad worked afternoons......

and in summers he'd sometimes take me to work with him on a Friday. We would sometimes stop at a restaurant at Archer and Pulaski for Cheeseburgers......imagine an 8 year old out at midnight.
Those cheeseburgers are quite the memory for me. Dad passed away when I was 12.

[RobinA]

5. Birthday Present

I developed an interest in figure skating quite early in life. In 1965 my 7th birthday present was a trip to see the Ice Follies at the Phildelphia Convention Center. Bear in mind this was before kids went to venues like that several times a year to see events. This trip to the city was a BIG DEAL. We had very good seats and it was the first time I had seen any such event. I remember the glittery costumes and the "smoke" on the ice. This was before all this stuff was kiddy-fied, so there were very few cartoon or silly numbers, which I would have hated even at that age. It was guys in tails dancing with ladies in gowns plus a few, very few, commedy acts. NO syndicated characters. I was allowed to get a big popcorn, which was also a BIG DEAL since we were never allowed junk food. I remember sitting there eating my popcorn watching the grown-ups skating in their beautiful costumes - it was great. I still have the program.

[turtlerescue1]

6. My sister's Ass, named Chester.

Good memory WillParkinson!
"Preserve you memories, there all thats left..." Simon&Garfunkel



Chester got left behind for a year or so, and lived with us. He wasn't really friendly. But every morning I would have to walk past the pasture he stood in-on my way to the bus stop.
He would bray from the time I left the house until the bus finally came. I was grossly embarrassed by the teasings. But came to love that ass named Chester.

[sinkingfeeling]

7. There are so many. I remember Friday nights when my Dad would

get my sister and I cleaned up and we'd drive to Columbus to pick up Mom from her job. We lived on a farm about 30 miles out. Then we'd go to the Great Western Shopping Center and get cheeseburger dinners at the Woolworths'. Then we'd look at the 'Walk of Wonders'. Someimes we'd stop back in West Jefferson and get an ice cream cone from the Dairy Queen.

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/6384





It's been long gone, but opened in 1951.

[RFKHumphreyObama]

8. i've shared it before on here

Melbourne, Australia 1980s. A young boy is visiting from overseas and goes to the house of his grandparents with his father. His father warns him there will be Easter eggs and chocolate on the table of the living room of the house but makes it clear to him that under no circumstances is he to eat any of it. When the young boy enters the living room, his grandfather is sitting on a chair by the table with the Easter eggs. The young boy's father leaves the room for a minute and his grandfather offers him a chocolate. The boy declines because of what his father said. The grandfather persists. The boy explains to his grandfather what his father has said. The grandfather then tells the boy that it's OK, his father won't mind and to take one anyway. The grandfather is clearly gently bemused by his grandson's nervousness and continues to insist good-naturedly that he should take the chocolate. The boy is unsure of what to do because he doesn't want to offend his grandfather but he also doesn't want to disobey his father. He begins to get worried. Luckily, his father enters the room at that moment, sees what is going on and assures his son that it's all right, that he can have the chocolate since his grandfather offered it to him. The boy takes the chocolate gratefully

Yes, that boy was me. I'm not sure how old I was at the time (was either three years old or five years old -I suspect the latter). But that memory means so much to me because it is one of the few distinctive memories that I have of my grandfather. Because we lived overseas from him at the time, I only saw him four or five times in my life over several years and never had the chance to get to know him properly. He died when I was ten, just as I was on the verge of moving to his country and forging a closer relationship with him. That memory is the one cherished memory I have of interacting with him.

[blueamy66]

9. going with my Grandmother to Java, NY

She had 2 sorority sisters (Mildred and Bert) that owned a large cottage and a smaller one. There was a lake with lily pads and a row boat and a deer lick and a swimming hole and a tree rope swing and the most beautiful flower garden I have ever seen. We'd play scat for nickles and eat the most wonderful cold cuts and cheese. Oh, and there was a tennis court too....mad matches between my Dad and my Mom's cousin....we'd sit in the judge's chair.

The drive out there was fun too.....we'd play "hey cow I see you now" as we passed the farms and red barns.....I know, absolute definition of cheesy.

All of my cousins remember it as well.

[Baitball Blogger]

10. Gravity and I have always been at odds with each other.

Adding skates to the formula only complicates the situation. I would learn years later that I have malocclusion of the knees, which in skating terms mean that there is no restful period for me. I always have to be on "alert" when I'm wearing skates or gravity does funny things to the knee joint. Of course, a good weight training program would have helped the situation, but forty five years ago, that would have been unheard of, just to play in skates.

So, one of my favorite childhood memories was the first time I was allowed to go to the skating rink with my older sister, who seemed to be far more adept at nailing these childhood milestones than I was. Of course, she ditched me the second she got my rental skates. I spent the first half of that night grabbing the edges of the rink to get to the practice area which was in the rear. I didn't mind so much because just listening to the music and watching everyone having a good time offset the bumps and bruises that I was collecting all over my legs. I fell often. And in one of those falls, a hand came out of nowhere. To this day, I don't remember his face. I was that small, not even reaching up to his waist. When I grabbed his hand, he helped me up and instead of taking me to the practice bar, he guided me around the skating rink one time.

We never spoke that I remember. I was so taken by the sensation of seeing the world move smoothly past me that I was rendered speechless. And even as a kid who couldn't have been more than six years old, I knew how extraordinary it was for an adult to take his time to do this for someone they didn't even know.

Of course, that memory today would be tarnished with all kinds of flagellation for not kicking and screaming, yelling STRANGER DANGER! But, perhaps, that's what makes the memory so great. Because I lived in a time and a place where it would have been impossible for him to leave that rink without getting the notice of a number of neighbors. And more than a few of them had records.

[driver8]

11. The smell of my great grandmother's kitchen...

She used to make these amazing molasses cookies when we would come to visit and her kitchen smelled like cookies baking. I will never forget that smell as long as I live.