Laying beside the bed with my little blanket and pillow, I heard the door to the room quietly open. I quickly closed my eyes and pretended to be sleeping while I waited for the door to close again. Nezi, the middle-aged woman my mom had chosen as my babysitter, made me take naps. Up until my teenage years, I HATED taking naps. Maybe this was why this moment stuck in my mind as my first memory. I was probably three years old at the time, but old enough to know that if I pretended to be sleeping, nap time would end sooner.
I don't know how my mom knew Nezi, but my mind decided to remember her. I didn't see her at all after we moved out of our Taylorsville home just before I turned four, but when she came to my sister's wedding fifteen years later, I picked her out instantly from afar. I found it ironic that she snuck up behind me during that wedding and asked, "Do you want to go take a nap?" For a moment it seemed I was on the old television show "This is Your Life" and she was standing behind a curtain waiting for me to guess it was her.
The only other thing I really remember about living in our white house in Taylorsville was my dad chasing my older sister, Corinne, and me around the backyard, squirting us with the hose. Being as young as we were we couldn't run very fast... that coupled with our bare feet on the prickly weed/grass mixture of our yard, it was impossible to get away from the cold water that drenched us. Even in the heat of the summer the water out of the hose was cold enough to take your breath away. A couple of degrees cooler and our fun would have quickly become something more reminiscent of torture.
For some reason my dad loved squirting us with cold water. He'd cover us with kids' bath foam when we were in the bathtub and then hose us off using cold water. We never thought to turn on the warm water, somehow the cold shower was what we'd come to expect. My dad continued with this cold water torture as we got older by turning off the water heater while we were in the shower. By this time we had wised up a bit and got him back by turning the dishwasher on while he was in the shower. Paybacks are a bitch.
I don't know how my mom knew Nezi, but my mind decided to remember her. I didn't see her at all after we moved out of our Taylorsville home just before I turned four, but when she came to my sister's wedding fifteen years later, I picked her out instantly from afar. I found it ironic that she snuck up behind me during that wedding and asked, "Do you want to go take a nap?" For a moment it seemed I was on the old television show "This is Your Life" and she was standing behind a curtain waiting for me to guess it was her.
The only other thing I really remember about living in our white house in Taylorsville was my dad chasing my older sister, Corinne, and me around the backyard, squirting us with the hose. Being as young as we were we couldn't run very fast... that coupled with our bare feet on the prickly weed/grass mixture of our yard, it was impossible to get away from the cold water that drenched us. Even in the heat of the summer the water out of the hose was cold enough to take your breath away. A couple of degrees cooler and our fun would have quickly become something more reminiscent of torture.
For some reason my dad loved squirting us with cold water. He'd cover us with kids' bath foam when we were in the bathtub and then hose us off using cold water. We never thought to turn on the warm water, somehow the cold shower was what we'd come to expect. My dad continued with this cold water torture as we got older by turning off the water heater while we were in the shower. By this time we had wised up a bit and got him back by turning the dishwasher on while he was in the shower. Paybacks are a bitch.
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1 comments:
Dear KAREN, :)
I find first & early memories so beautiful. Thanks for sharing this one.
By-the-by, Collettey has SO many early memories, when SO young (like age TWO!). Mine are from later; 4 and beyond. (Hope ok to share that, Co.)
--me
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