pagesofjulia

I was struck today by a blog post I found at cakes, tea and dreams. Katie, the blogger there, got this idea from Lindsey at A Design So Vast. The idea is to write for 10-minutes, sort of free-flow, sentences beginning with “I remember.” I liked this so much that I did it, too. I was surprised at what came out.

I remember my father finally taking the training wheels off my bicycle.

I remember riding to day care on the back of my father’s bicycle. (Or maybe I just remember the story?)

I remember my neighborhood friends, Joshua and Jonathon. They were brothers. Joshua once got hit by a car on his bike; the lady stopped, asked if he was okay, and drove on.

I remember trying to come home on time – I was supposed to come home when the street lights came on – but I could never notice, and I was late, consistently.

I remember eating figs off the fig trees in the backyard.

I remember the day my parents came home with a kitten we named Katy.

I remember when our dog Eile came home as a puppy.

I remember a lizard latching on to my finger in the greenhouse. I was told it didn’t hurt; but I screamed and screamed. I guess I was just scared.

I remember my best friend Katie leaning out on my top bunk bed and hitting her head on the ceiling fan (which was on). She went to the hospital to get stitches above her eye.

I remember watching Square One and Mathnet and other educational tv shows after school.

I remember when our neighbor, Mrs. Evans, died. She was very old.

I remember our other elderly neighbors, the Spencers. They were nice. They had lots of interesting things in their garage.

I remember riding our bicycles down the outside, closed corridor of a church in the neighborhood, and yelling. They didn’t like that.

I remember the night my now-husband told me he had been watching and admiring me for years before (I thought) we even met. I remember my chin was on my chest.

I remember my foster brother, Eder.

I remember being SO SURE of what I wanted to be when I grew up. (It’s not what I am now, and that’s okay.)

I remember running at the track with my father running faster than me. He could keep an eye on me even with our two different paces, at the track, so it was a good place to go. There was a soccer game going on on the inside of the track and I really wanted to play soccer, but I didn’t think the grown men would want me.

I remember riding my bicycle with my father along the bayou paths while he ran, and telling him long stories.

I remember when I first learned to read, reading billboards aloud to my parents while they drove; I think I made them nuts.

I remember being told it wasn’t okay to read at the table at dinnertime.

I remember refusing to eat pickles, tomatoes, onions, squash, cheese that wasn’t yellow, olives, lots of things.

Feel free to play along; what do you remember?

Filed under: musings | Tagged: personal |