Snippets of Memories. Good Ones.
My friend Sizzle recently wrote a lovely post, where she shared a random sampling of her memories. And even though I have such problems with remembering my childhood, I thought it would be a good exercise to try and come up with a list from mine. And not just any list. A bonefide list of happy memories from my childhood. And not ones sent to me by my childhood best friend, either.
Here we go.
– The smell of honeysuckle as they weaved their way through my Oma’s chainlink fence
– Making a friend on the beach in Ocean City and walking her back to her condo, and then her walking me back to mine, and then me walking her back, and seeing how long we could get away with that game
– Salt spray on my face as I looked up from my parent’s sailboat at the underbelly of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge
– Being hilariously tricked by my aunt and uncle, who convinced us they had ridden their new bikes 30 miles to our house (when in fact they had driven them over in their truck, only to unload them and ride them from just around the corner)
– Writing my thoughts and dreams in a Hello Kitty diary
– Staying home sick and my mother surprising me with a homemade stuffed doll to make me feel better
– Swinging in my Oma’s green hammock
– Getting my first camera for Christmas, a Kodak “brownie” at age 8
– Turning our Big Wheels over and riding them like stationary bikes on the porch
– Playing dolls and other secret girl things with Jenny under the arches of her parent’s Forsthia bushes
– Fighting over the chair at Oma’s dinner table that allowed us to see the TV through the mirror in the hall
– Buying my first tape… Thriller by Michael Jackson
– Eating spagetti eis with my cousins in Germany
– Listening to my Oma snore like a freight train when she would spend the night, and sleep in my room
– Waiting for the “Bump” – a huge dip in the road that would make us fly into the air – on the way to German lessons
– Going for candy at the local mom & pop store during “adult swim” at the YMCA
– Making homemade ice cream in Aunt Kitty’s backyard
Whew.
It was actually possible.
How about you?
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Nice. Sounds like fun times. One of mine is my mom rubbing Hawaiian Tropics suntan oil into my just-starting-to-burn shoulders. I loved that exotic coconut smell.
it’s healing to remember the good. i used to turn over my bike and ride it like that too!
This summer I was in my backyard (we’ve lieved here two years) and I was hit with the smell of my childhood. I looked around wondering if my grandmother’s ghost was around. (not that I believe in ghosts) I had to look behind a big bush to find the honeysuckle.
It’s so nice to remember those lazy childhood days
Alida, welcome! And I specifically planted honeysuckle in my backyard – outside my kitchen window – to smell my Oma. The crazy thing is it has grown like crazy with little help form me – a hard thing to do here in Colorado sometimes. 😉
I’d like to try to do this sometime. I think I’ve blocked most of my childhood. Sadly, the good went out with the bad!
Meg… it took me a while to gather them, but it was nice.
Nice post. Glad you have some good memories in there too.
I like this post. It made me smile and remember some of my own. Thanks for sharing. And I’m glad you have some happy memories too!
Ha! And I thought my parents were soooo mean sending us to “German School” on Saturdays.
That’s wonderful that honeysuckle reminds you of your Oma.
One thing I remember about my Oma is that she always kept a little hanky tucked into her sleeve. And she used to “tinkle” her little spoon against the cup as she endlessly stirred her coffee.
Oh my, I guess I’ll have to start my own list.
Hi Aimee 🙂
I’m with the group of people that can’t remember much due to blocking things out, but: I had this wooden playhouse (like a small out-building) that I played in. We had this older man across the street that ran a second-hand store…would always tell me that he was keeping his eye out for an air conditioner for me. We moved away when I was 8..came back at 15..and he still asked…even though he had developed alzheimers.
I like this post. Since I’ve moved back into the neighborhood where I grew up, I’m sometimes assaulted by smells from my childhood. Talk about time travel!
Oma and Uncle Bill would be so proud that you DO remember some great times.
Thriller was my first non-kiddie album — on vinyl!
Wonderful, wonderful memories. Thank you for sharing them with us!
Funny how we’re both being nostalgic right now. Maybe because my mom and sis have been visiting. I just took slides to get put on a photo CD that are close to 40+ years old. Mom gave them to me years ago. There are pic’s where mom and dad are Honeymooning in Capri and while she was pregnant with me in Germany!
I wrote a similar post not that long ago but my memories pertaining to one of my grandparents. I thought I was remembering so much and with such detail, until my aunt commented with things I had completely forgotten.
I’m now surrounded by my childhood once again and remembering little things like my father’s first apartment and the world’s ugliest doll that I thought was oh so great from Kmart.
I like this! I’m going to have to think about it and come up with some good memories, too…
I do remember sleeping with my grandmother when she would visit and her snoring so loud I could never get to sleep. 😉
Thanks for sharing with us…
Thanks all, I am loving your snippets! 🙂
I remember making pasta with my Grandmother Enes. We made fettucini, linguini, gnocci, ravioli, tomato sauce, and italian sausage. I remember rinsing out the pig intestines, and dipping homemade bread into the sauce while it was still cooking. Grandma Enes was great.
My parents used to take us hiking all the time in the fall. Walking in the wet leaves, then going home and drinking hot chocolate.
Being from Minneapolis, Hot chocolate figures into many many childhood memories.
great list!
homemade ice cream. nothing tastes as good. yum.
lots of camping memories for me, and flashlight tag, and “mystery trips” with my family
-Riding in my Dad’s backpack on a hiking trip just before falling asleep (three years old)
-Laying on my horse’s back while she grazed
-building tents out of sheets and umbrellas in the living room
Nice list! My first album wouldn’t be on the “happy” memory list — it was “Lost In Love,” by Air Supply. The shame!
Wow what a cool post! So interesting to think back to those early memories. I remember the way the water felt and smelled at the pool I always went to as a kid and the way the pavement felt walking back to my towel, warm in the sun where I’d eat my sugar daddy.
jrRrzS Your blog is great. Articles is interesting!
Could’ve been me writing those. Earliest memories from Springfield, VA (hi, neighbor!). All German all the time from my German mom (Me: “Don’t like Mutti, like MOM”). Friend of my mom’s who visited often from Germany and popped stinky garlic health pills. Being the only non-Catholic kids in school and carrying “sturdy” German backpacks instead of denim bags. Trips with my mom on her old black (now it’s called a Cruiser) bike to the local Ben Franklin to buy penny candies in the HOT, HOT, HUMID Virginia summers. LOTS of honeysuckle – remember pulling those stringy things out and sucking the juice? Noisy cicadas (I think) and the way they would all start buzzing at once, it would rise to a crescendo and then fade off. The neighborhood pool – get this – my dentist, here in li’l ol’ Lafayette, grew up in the same neighborhood I did, in Virginia. Kickball, playing in the dark on summer nights with the neighbor kids (can’t do THAT anymore).
Sigh. Too long, I know, but the memories came flooding back. It felt good.